Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house of Chez Ballet, located in Lignières-Sonneville in Charente, was built in the 4th quarter of the 17th century. Originally, he formed only one set with the neighbouring house. The main facade, long and three-storey, is marked by a higher central forebody, typical of the civil architecture of this period. The entrance door, surrounded by ground oculi and adorned with salient keys, confirms this dating by its characteristic pattern of the late seventeenth century.

Inside, the distribution of spaces suggests an original separation between the right part, probably dedicated to apartments, and the left part, reserved for commons and kitchen. The latter preserves a fireplace framed with painted woodwork, a remarkable element of the interior heritage. The building was partially protected by a registration order of November 7, 1973, covering the main façade, the roofs, as well as three chimneys on the first floor and the woodwork of the kitchen.

The house illustrates the evolution of bourgeois or seigneurial residences in Angoumois at the end of the seventeenth century, a period marked by refinement of interior decorations and a more structured spatial organization. Its state of conservation and its protected elements make it a notable architectural testimony of this time in the Poitou-Charentes region, now integrated into New Aquitaine.

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