Timeline

Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The house at 22 rue Ernest-Renan in Tréguier is a rich bourgeois residence built in the early seventeenth century, typical of the architecture of the Trégor. It has a front façade with wooden panels on stone pillars, with a corbelled floor and windows grouped in the center. The ground floor, widely open on the street, suggests commercial use, while the back provides access to a courtyard and garden. Inside, eight fire rooms and a ramp staircase lead to a high room, characteristic of shipowner manors, offering views of the port of the Jaudy.

The house is built at the corner of Renan Street (former Grande Street) and Stanco Street, with a granite structure on the ground floor and wooden panels on the floors. In the 18th century, interior changes were made, such as the afforestation of chimneys and the addition of panelling. Acquired in 1780 by the grandparents of Ernest Renan, she became her home in 1823, where he lived until his fifteen years. The facade, initially coated and pierced by new openings in the 19th century, was restored in 1946 and 1992 to its original appearance, with ochres inspired by maritime colours.

Classified as a Historical Monument on April 20, 1944, the house was transformed into a museum in 1947, dedicated to the life and work of Ernest Renan (1823–92). Managed by the National Monuments Centre, it received a Maison des Illustres label in 2011. The successive restorations have restored its sculpted decoration (columns, balusters) and created exhibition spaces, while a garden is created in 2010. The southern dependency, visible on the Napoleonic cadastre, has now disappeared.

The protected elements include the entire house (cadastre A 483, A 484, A 489), with its unique architectural features: carved pottery, ground space, and a high room once used as a watchpiece to monitor port activities. The wide and flexible entrance door, adapted to the trade, as well as the kitchen with access to the cellar, testify to its mixed use, both domestic and professional, reflecting the high social status of its occupants, probably owners or wealthy bourgeois.

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