Timeline

Origin and history

The house at 14 rue de la Rodade in Clermont-Ferrand is a remarkable example of late medieval civil architecture. Built between the 15th and 16th centuries, it illustrates the construction techniques in wooden panels of the late Middle Ages. Its overhanging dripper wall on the street, supported by two corbelled gable walls, bears witness to an aesthetic and functional research specific to the flamboyant era. The ground floor, pierced by a central door flanked by two arcades in basket coves, was originally home to two shops with wooden stalls, reflecting the commercial activity of the city at that time.

The arcades and the door retain a mullure characteristic of the flamboyant style, while the wooden panel structure, composed of sandstones, poles and cross of Saint-André, delimits five unequal spans. Although redesigned after the 16th century, these architectural elements reveal the evolution of usages and techniques over the centuries. The facade and roof, protected since 1990, are now owned by the municipality of Clermont-Ferrand.

The location of this house, in a narrow street in the historic centre, suggests its integration into a dense urban fabric, typical of medieval cities. The shops on the ground floor indicate a mixed vocation, both residential and commercial, common in the city centres of the time. The inscription in the title of Historical Monuments underscores its heritage importance, both for its architecture and for its testimony on urban life at the crossroads of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance.

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