Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at the 19 Grande-Rue in Felletin is a civil building probably built between the 13th and 14th centuries, as evidenced by architectural elements such as the mulled cord of the first floor. Originally, it occupied a strategic position near the local priory and had two elevations, one of which overlooking a space now narrowed. Its structure, deeper than wide, develops on two square floors and a lofty floor, with a facade adorned with stone crows and an empty corner niche, topped by a radiant warhead dais and a leafed pinacle.

In the 15th or 16th century, the house underwent major changes, including the addition of a semi-outbuilding tower with a stone screw staircase, as well as modifications of the windows and roof (passage from a gable wall to a rump). An eastern part of the building, including an eastern elevation, was destroyed after 1817, when the house belonged to Joseph Conseil, a merchant. The interior preserves traces of its past use, such as a chimney curved on the ground floor and a sink niche adorned with a brace on the first floor, whose flow was to an adjacent veneal.

The angle niche, protected since 1963, is a remarkable testimony of local medieval art. Sculpted at about 1.50 m in height, it rests on a cap representing a busted character with curly hair, in an arched posture. The dais, protruding over a trilobed arch, is decorated with dogives and stylized foliage, reflecting Gothic influence. The quadrangular apparatus of the facade and the prominent ravens suggest a mixed initial vocation, both bourgeois dwelling and commercial space (probably presence of an awning on the ground floor).

Subsequent transformations, such as the partitioning of floors or the modernization of certain bays, attest to continuous adaptation to the needs of its occupants. Despite these changes, the house retains rare medieval features, such as the double-moulded windows or the chamfered bays of the stair tower. Its history reflects the urban evolution of Felletin, marked by the densification of the building and the partial disappearance of its medieval fabric.

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