Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building located 10 rue Carnot in Châlons-en-Champagne is a private hotel built in the second half of the 16th century, around 1562, as attested the date engraved in its cellar. Its front façade, made of Savonnières limestone, features d'angle chains, ground window frames and a stone cornice. The floors combine bricks and chalk in alternating sittings, while the posterior facade mixes pan of crepi wood with stone. Originally, the ground floor housed two doors, including a cochère leading to an inner courtyard. The south corner, once equipped with a turret, was modified in the 19th century to install a wrought iron balcony.

The hotel was built by Michel Ticket, controller at the salt attic, and sold in 1592 to Jean de Morillon, lord of Marne-la-Maison and lieutenant general of the bailliage of Vermandois. The property remained in his family until 1730, before passing into the hands of Zacharie Hocart, colonel of infantry. In the 19th century, the building became the residence of Léon Bourgeois, a major political figure (MP, Minister, President of the Senate). The interiors retain elements from the 18th and 19th centuries, such as panelling, a marble fireplace and a flooring on a scale. The vaulted cellar, contemporary of construction, bears witness to the original architecture.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1982 for its facade on street and roof, the building combines a variety of constructive techniques: Savonnières stone, brick, chalk and woodpan. Subsequent changes, such as the addition of wood-paned wings or the expansion of berries, reflect its evolution over the centuries. Today, it houses a notarial study and a public treasury office, perpetuating its anchor in local administrative life.

Architectural details, such as loose lintels, vermiculated shelling or grids protecting the ground floor windows, illustrate the care taken in its construction. The molded cornice, surmounted by a roof in mechanical tiles, and the chalk gable walls complete this remarkable ensemble. The building thus embodies the legacy of the Chalonian elites, from royal officers to politicians in the Third Republic.

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