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Origin and history

Hotel Grou is a neo-classical mansion built at the end of the 18th century in Nantes, at the corner of Kervégan Street and Place de la Petite-Hollande, on Feydeau Island. He was commissioned by Guillaume Grou, a shipowner and slave, enriched by the black trade, and he embodied the opulence of the Nantes elites of the time. The building, built between 1747 and 1752, is designed as the counterpart of the Hotel de La Villestréux, in a district then expanding in real estate for wealthy families.

In 1776, the hotel was occupied by Guillaume Grou's widow, Anne O'Shiell, as well as Mr. Rozée (king's secretary) and Mr. Marcorelles, each with ten rooms and sharing eight servants. The building combines a luxurious residential part for Grou and rental apartments, illustrating the social duality of Feydeau Island. In the 19th century, major changes were made: the addition of a floor, the removal of stables, and the transformation of the entrance door, although the original staircase was preserved.

The materials used — tuffeau, limestone of Saint-Savinien and granite — underline the prestige of the construction. The west façade, decorated with mascarons and a wrought iron-shaped balcony, contrasts with the rental area accessible by Kervégan Street. The monumental staircase, now partially disappeared, once linked Grou's apartment to the shops on the ground floor. Ranked a historic monument in 1932 (facades and roof) and in 1986 (scaling), the hotel bears witness to the architecture and economic history of Nantes.

The building also reflects the paradoxes of its time: its architectural richness is inseparable from the triangular economy and slavery, the source of Guillaume Grou's fortune. The interior elements preserved (roadways, parquet floors, doors of the eighteenth century) recall the fascist of bourgeois residences, while subsequent transformations adapt the building to the changing needs of the city.

Located in an area marked by maritime history, Hotel Grou is today a symbol of the heritage of Nantes, protected for its historical and architectural value. Its inscription to historical monuments in two stages (1932 and 1986) underlines the importance of preserving both its exterior decorations and its interior arrangements, witness to the aristocratic and commercial life of the eighteenth century.

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