Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 12 rue de l'Église in Westhalten, Haut-Rhin, has been a civil building listed as historic monuments since 22 March 1934. This building is distinguished by its typical architecture of the late 16th century, with finely carved sandstone elements, including a triangular oriel and a segmental arch lintel door. An engraved stone indicates the date of 1593 for the house, while the triangular box is dated 1624.

The building has outstanding architectural features, such as an exterior stone staircase, ground-chambranled windows, and a broken long-paned roof. Inside, the courtyard houses a ceiling door in the middle of the hanger and a pedestrian door dated 1781. The house underwent transformations in the 20th century, including the removal of corbellation over the passage, replaced by a modern house. The arch key of the old passage, dated 1630, was reused in the rebuilt wall.

The protected elements specifically include the front façade on street, reflecting the heritage importance of this building. The house illustrates the Alsatian architectural evolution between the Renaissance and the modern era, with additions and modifications reflecting the changing needs of its occupants. The adjacent barns and stables have also been redesigned over the centuries, adapting the whole to agricultural and residential uses.

Westhalten, located in the Greater East, was at that time a village marked by a rural and artisanal economy. Half-timbered or stone houses, like this one, often served as homes for wealthy families, combining habitat, storage spaces and sometimes commercial activities. The inscription in the title of historical monuments in 1934 underscores the heritage value of this building, representative of the Alsatian building of the 16th–15th centuries.

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