Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house and gardens of Georges Clemenceau, located at the place-known as Belébat (formerly Bélesbat) in Saint-Vincent-sur-Jard in Vendée (Pays de la Loire), is a modest five-room fisherman's farmhouse, typical of local architecture. Painted in white with turquoise shutters and a roof in Romanesque tiles, it overlooks the Atlantic Ocean, 20 km from the Sands-d-Olonne. Acquired by Clemenceau in 1919 after her political retreat, she became her summer residence until her death in 1929. The lease for life, rented for a symbolic franc by Luce de Trémont, allows him to live there simply, surrounded by servants, in what he nicknames his "Belebat bihull" or his "horizontal castle".

Clemenceau provided amenities such as a glassed summer lounge, an open kiosk ("Kurdish Trianon"), a garage, as well as running water, electricity (in 1926) and toilets. He received personalities, including Claude Monet, and cultivated a life close to nature, despite his Rolls-Royce. The house, classified as a historic monument in 1970 and labeled Maisons des Illustres in 2011, retains its original furniture, its personal items (including Japanese diplomatic gifts), and a library of 1,500 books. Its bed, covered with white tiger skin brought back from Bengal, recalls its nickname "Tigre".

Behind the house, Clemenceau creates an impressionist garden inspired by Monet's garden in Giverny, with 7,000 flowers arranged in color tasks, without flat-bands or structured massives. It fights against dune soil damage by enriching algae and planting windbreak hedges. Restored between 2005 and 2006, this "no rules" garden reflects his love for nature and art, as evidenced by his correspondence with Monet. The well of the garden recalls its efforts to preserve the humidity despite the sea winds.

When he died in 1929, his son Michel transferred the property to the state in 1932 to become a museum managed by the National Monuments Centre. The house-museum, open to the public, exhibits its souvenirs (a wardrobe offered by the inhabitants, Moroccan carpet of Marshal Lyautey, hunting trophies), while its garden and terrace offer a view of the beach of the Goulet. The site, bordered by the Federal Forest of Longeville-sur-Mer, also includes a green theatre and an esplanade that was redone in 2006. Clemenceau lies in Mouchamps, 80 km northeast.

The house inspired works such as Rosemonde Gérard's Le Tiger dans les fleurs (1933) and served as a set for telefilms (Clemenceau, 2012 and 2022). His furniture, frozen in time (clock stopped at 1:45, hour of his death), and his objects (dual pistols, libraries, Japanese kakemonos) illustrate the duality of man: republican austere and aesthetic passionate Asian art. The place symbolizes both its political withdrawal and its cultural heritage, between Vendée native and national influence.

Future

Museum: The house has remained in the state since the death of the "Tigre" with its furniture, memories and personal items, including its numerous diplomatic gifts testifying to its japonism.

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