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Origin and history

The house of Hamel Saint-Étienne is a house built around 1490, at the end of the 15th century, located on the old town of La Carneille, now integrated with Athis-Val de Rouvre in Orne. The building, which was partially listed as a historical monument in 1999, is characterized by a quadrangular enclosure formerly equipped with peppers and round towers. Although redesigned, it retains defensive elements such as rotating stone arches and corbelled turrets. A press dated 1626, still present on the estate, bears witness to his past agricultural activity.

The house belonged to the same family since 1758, the date of its acquisition by Charles Ambroise Bertrand de Lodiesnière, MP for the National Convention. In the 19th century, the place became an artistic home, welcoming the Norman painter Levasseur. By 1840, part of the building was amputated, but these modifications under Louis-Philippe did not alter its general physiognomy. The facades and roofs of the house and the press have been protected since 1999.

Located on the western slope of the Rouvre valley, Hamel Saint-Étienne illustrates the architecture of Norman strong houses, combining residential, defensive and agricultural functions. Its history also reflects the social and cultural transformations of the region, from its role as seigneurial residence to its openness to 19th-century artistic circles. The preserved elements, such as the original bays and the interior distribution, offer a rare testimony of the noble habitat of the late Middle Ages in Normandy.

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