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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house Bernays, located in Villefranche-de-Rouergue, illustrates the civil architecture of the 15th and 16th centuries in this bastide founded in 1256 by Alphonse de Poitiers. Its main body on the Rue de la République keeps two floors in wooden strip with a strong corbellation, while the side facades and on the Place Notre-Dame are in masonry. The interior reveals a ceiling corridor with caissons, a courtyard with a staircase with straight flights (carried by arches and dogive vaults), and adorned courtyards supported by tubes. These elements, dated the 2nd quarter of the 16th century, suggest a piecemeal remodeling.

The bastide of Villefranche-de-Rouergue, created according to an orthogonal plan typical of the 13th and 15th centuries, became a prosperous merchant centre after 1463, when it obtained the right to strike royal currency. A fire in 1497 destroyed part of the square, explaining the absence of houses before the 16th century. The house Bernays, rebuilt on the primitive plane, has a facade on the square dating from the late 15th century, followed by a courtyard and a second building from the early 16th century. The large windows could date back to the 18th and 19th centuries, while the remains of the old crosses (windows pedestals) bear witness to successive transformations.

Classified as a Historic Monument in stages (decree of 1916, decrees of 1927 and 1996), the house protects remarkable elements: its facade on the square, arcade doors, the inside/outdoor staircase, and covered galleries. These protections underline its role in the architectural heritage of this commercial city, where the arcades of the square developed gradually after the destructions of the 15th century.

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