Timeline

Heritage classified

Origin and history

The houses at numbers 14 and 16 of Rue Henri-Cheron, in Lisieux (Calvados, Normandy), are emblematic buildings of the 15th and 17th centuries. Their conservation, despite the fires of 1944, made them rare witnesses to the urban physiognomy of Lisieux before the destruction of the Second World War. These houses, formerly located on the Grande-Rue (renamed in 1936), illustrate the typical architecture of the city, especially with their carved wooden panels facades.

The house on 16 rue Henri-Cheron is distinguished by its decorative elements, as a corbellation and engulfing, characteristic of the local style. Lisieux, nicknamed "the capital of carved wood" before 1944, owes this reputation to such buildings. Their heritage value was recognized in 1929, when their facades and roofs were listed in the Historical Monuments by ministerial decree.

The 1944 bombings profoundly marked Lisieux, destroying much of its historic centre. These houses, spared or restored, offer today a unique overview of the urban planning and crafts of Ancien Régime in Normandy. Their presence also recalls the importance of wood in Norman architecture, both for its aesthetic aspect and for its resistance, as evidenced by these preserved remains.

Their exact location, originally referenced as 14 Grande-Rue, was updated after the name change of the track in 1936. Available sources, such as Monumentum and Wikipedia, highlight their role as historical landmarks in a reconstructed city, while noting their varying conservation status, assessed as "fair" in terms of geographic accuracy in heritage databases.

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