Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The building on 123-127 Grande Rue in Alençon is an architectural testimony covering the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Its street façade, partly with wooden panels (notably number 123), contrasts with the 19th-century renovation of number 121, although both the interior and the courtyard façade retain original elements. The building is characterized by details such as a stone door with arches, sill windows, and polygonal towers housing screw stairs, typical of civil architecture of this period.

The property consists of several buildings organised around a common courtyard. In number 123, the wooden paneled facade has two levels, while the crows of the old wooden galleries, serving the floors, remain visible. The chamfered openings and defensive or utility elements (such as screw stairs) highlight the duality between habitat and trade, common in medieval and modern urban centres. These characteristics motivated its inscription as historic monuments on 24 June 1975, limited to the street façade and its roof.

The building illustrates the urban evolution of Alençon, the city of Orne in Normandy, where wood-paned constructions were associated with later reconstructions. Its present state reflects both transformations (such as the 19th century façade) and remarkable conservations (slide with screws, interior structure). The mention of a shield on the stone door suggests a past linked to a family or corporation, although its identity is not specified in available sources.

The location of the building on the Grande Rue, a major artery in Alençon, reinforces its historical importance. This type of building was often used as both a dwelling, a place of commerce (ground floor) and a workshop (floors or inner courtyard). Polygonal towers and spiral staircases, defensive or prestigious elements, were common in bourgeois or merchant houses of the 15th-17th centuries, a period of prosperity for some Norman cities thanks to textiles and commerce.

The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) highlight the heritage value of the building, protected for its facade and roof since 1975. The Merimée database and the INSEE data confirm its exact address and its connection to the municipality of Alençon (code 61001), in the department of Orne. No information is provided on its current accessibility (visit, rental) or contemporary use.

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