Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building located at 10 rue Victor-et-Hélène-Basch in Bourg-en-Bresse is a building whose origins date back to the second half of the 15th century, with major transformations in the 16th and 17th centuries. Originally a medieval residence, it was converted into a mansion in the 17th century, then divided into apartments in the 20th century. Its current structure combines Gothic elements (slide in screws, old bays) and modern additions, such as the upper level added around 1930 or the steel gate of the 1950s-1960s. The facades on the first courtyard, as well as the remarkable well of the second courtyard (with its age), testify to its aristocratic past.

The first courtyard preserves a semi-arch-de-cloister vaulted gallery, adorned with an 18th-century ironwork railing, while the upper floors feature more modest and even industrial (late 20th century). The screw staircase, housed in an octagonal tower, preserved its frames of bays of the 15th–12th centuries. The bearings, although transformed, keep doors in braid, typical of bourgeois architecture of the time. The second court, less altered, reveals ancient bays and a well inscribed with historical monuments since 1982, supplemented by an engraving by Fernand Combes (1919) documenting its condition at the beginning of the twentieth century.

Partially classified in 1947 (façades and roofs), then extended in 2017 (courses, staircases, passages), the building illustrates the evolution of Breton private hotels, from seigneurial residences to collective dwellings. The original floors, once paved, are now covered with cement, and the interiors, although remodeled, offer medieval possibilities. An ancient engraving and architectural disorders (heterogeneous woodwork, degraded coatings) highlight the changes suffered by this heritage, reflecting successive adaptations to urban needs.

The ensemble, composed of two buildings connected by galleries, embodies the transition between medieval fortified house and classical mansion, before its division into 20th century dwellings. The successive protections (1947, 1982, 2017) aim to preserve its most emblematic elements, while at the same time tolerating contemporary developments. The contrast between the modesty of the facade and the richness of the inner courtyards (ferronries, wells, staircases) reveals a spatial hierarchy typical of the affluent houses of the historical Bresse.

The well of the second courtyard, registered in 1982, is one of the few intact remains of the seventeenth century, accompanied by a stone age and old barred bays. An engraving by Fernand Combes (1919) attests to its heritage importance, while the visible disorders (perceived from bays, altered coatings) reflect the vicissitudes of a continuously inhabited monument. The common areas protected in 2017 (scaling, steps, passageways) underline the desire to maintain the original structure, despite internal divisions. This building, both a witness to Bourg-en-Bresse's urban history and an example of architectural adaptation, remains a key milestone in the Bressan and Rhônalpin heritage.

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