Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The building on 9 rue Saint-Nicolas in Nancy, built in the middle of the eighteenth century, is part of the medieval route of the old road linking Nancy to Saint-Nicolas-de-Port. Although its façade, reworked in the early 19th century, goes unnoticed, its entrance hall houses a wrought iron staircase decorated with rock motifs, leading to one of the best preserved 18th century interiors of the city. This building illustrates Nancy's urban evolution, where the houses of the Enlightenment often eclipsed medieval remains.

On the first floor, a square vestibule distributes an apartment whose rooms have preserved their original parquet floors, panelling and fireplaces, typical of the Louis XV style. The painted mists, representing gallant scenes in greyish and yellow shades, as well as the mouldings of the panellings, bear witness to an exceptional craft. The first traces of property date back to Georges Mayer the Elder, an iron merchant (1797–11), followed by Joseph Henry, an investigating judge, and Charles de Rosiers, a court councillor (1815–33).

The interior decorations of the apartment, classified as Historic Monument in 1998, contrast with the discretion of the facade. Saint-Nicolas Street, bordered by dated buildings (such as n°2 of 1738 or n°8 of 1776), offers a panorama of the 18th century architecture of the Nemenca, where the exteriors were often privileged in heritage protections. This building thus reveals the importance of the interiors, often unknown, in the heritage of the Enlightenment in Lorraine.

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