Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 18 rue de la Couronne is an emblematic construction of Riquewihr, in the Upper Rhine, built between the late 17th and early 18th centuries. It leans against the wall of the city's southern enclosure, dating back to the late 13th century, and incorporates older elements such as a 1527 pantry. Its spatial organization reflects its original use of winemaker's house, with separate press, laundry and access from the street.

The facade, adorned with a richly carved wood oriel, bears the initials F H VM B and date 1683, associated with the spouses Felix Haussmann and Ursula Marie Baumeister, owners during the major reconstruction. The staircase with twisted core screws, the presses on the ground floor and the decorations (angels heads, masks, ear motifs) testify to a neat craftsmanship. A body of passage, added in 1719 (initial I G M H unidentified), completes the whole, linking the house to a barn and a fenil adjoining.

Ranked a historic monument in 1930 for its facade and roof, the house illustrates Alsatian civil architecture of the modern era. Its vaulted pantry, its door in full hanger dated 1527, and its integrated bread oven reveal a continuous adaptation of the spaces to the wine and domestic needs. Today, a secondary residence, it retains traces of the 18th century changes, especially on the southern gable.

The site is part of the glass and wine heritage of Riquewihr, a preserved medieval village where half-timbered houses often housed artisanal and agricultural activities. The adjacent venal and the common courtyard in the east underline its integration into the historic urban fabric, marked by walls of enclosure and filled ditches, such as that transformed into a garden to the south of the property.

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