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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Hutot de Latour hotel was built between 1753 and 1755 by Pierre-Louis Hutot de Latour, receiver of the sizes of Agen, on land acquired near the royal stables. To enlarge his property, he bought several adjacent plots and obtained from the city the lowering of the rampart blocking the view of the Garonne. The rapid construction was completed in 1755, including the acquisition and transformation of a 14th century tower, known as the Powder Tower, into a music show. These developments made it one of the most prestigious hotels in Agen at the time.

Pierre-Louis Hutot de Latour left Agen for Paris in 1773 and sold the hotel in 1774 to Martial de Fossat de la Bastide, who sold it three years later. The hotel then changed hands several times: acquired by Pierre Villeneuve in 1777, then by Nicolas Cazabonne de Lajonquière in 1810, the latter being an influential magistrate, president of the Société des lettres, sciences et arts d'Agen and judge during the Revolution. The hotel was finally classified as a historical monument in 1954, after belonging to various families, including the Calmels-Puntis and the Ducos.

The hotel's architecture, considered unique in the region by historian J. Marboutin, suggests that its designer was not native to the Agenese. Although the name of the architect remains unknown, the foundations were completed by 1754, and the whole was completed by a garden created on a land leased to the city for life. In 2010, a luxury hotel project was planned by the Heridis company, but abandoned in 2015.

The Powder Tower, integrated into the hotel, bears witness to the ingenuity of the 18th-century developments. Hutot de Latour had also obtained the enjoyment of part of the round road of the city, reinforcing the exceptional character of this property. After his death in 1817, Nicolas Cazabonne de Lajonquière bequeathed the hotel to his heirs, marking a transition to a series of owners with varied profiles, ranging from a military commander to a Parisian painter.

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