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Origin and history

The so-called house of Sainte-Anne, located in Montluçon in the department of the Allier (region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes), is a 15th century civil building, representative of medieval bourgeois architecture. Its façade is distinguished by its second and third levels in corbellation, supported by stone crows, as well as its X-shaped half-timbers on the first floor and rectangular on the third. An ogival arch crowns the gable, while a niche housing a statue of Saint Anne, at the corner of the Grand Street and St. Anne's Street, gave its name to the house and the artery.

Originally, this house belonged to wealthy merchants, as evidenced by its mention in the burrow of the Dukes of Bourbon at the end of the 15th century under the name of Pinon Perron, wife of Olivier de Beaumanoir, bourgeois and merchant. The 1681 document describes it as a set of three attached houses consisting of rooms, attics, shops, cellars and a cellar, then in condominium between Nicolas Berthet (apothecary), the heirs of Antoine Preschonnet, and Guillaume Buglet (practitioner in law).

The house illustrates Montluçon's economic dynamism during the Renaissance, where trade and crafts flourished under the influence of the Dukes of Bourbon. Its architecture combines residential and commercial functions, typical of the merchant houses of the period. The façade, classified with its roof since 1935, preserves Gothic elements such as an acclaimed skylight and chambranles, reflecting the social status of its owners.

The building owes its present name to the statue of St. Anne, installed in a niche of corner, which marked the identity of the neighborhood. This local devotion, combined with the preservation of architectural details (apparent wooden beam, carved crows), makes it a rare testimony of the medieval urban habitat in Bourbonnais.

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