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Origin and history

La Maison de La Hire is a medieval building located at No 7 of Arragegat Street in Francescas, Lot-et-Garonne department. Originally dating from the 14th century, it was built against the city wall. The local tradition attributed to Étienne de Vignolles, dit La Hire, companion of arms of Jeanne d'Arc. Although this attribution remains uncertain, it reflects the symbolic importance of the place in collective memory.

Damaged at the end of the Middle Ages, the house was renovated in the 16th or 17th centuries, preserving remarkable architectural elements such as a geminate bay, a conical hood chimney, and cross-wood strips of Saint Andrew. Its original volume, with three levels (one dedicated to storage and another to housing), bears witness to its mixed use. The latrines overlooking the old ditches and the drone separating the house from its neighbour underline its integration into the urban defensive system.

Between 1809 and 1842, the house was divided into three properties, undergoing structural changes (masonry company, addition of an exterior staircase, construction of sheds in ditches). These changes reflect adaptations to modern residential needs. Joined historic monuments on 23 December 1996, it now illustrates the medieval civil heritage and its evolution in the modern era.

Architecturally, the house combines typical materials of its period: cut stone for the side walls and ground floor, wood strips with torchi for the upper floors. The corbellation and the dust windows recall medieval constructive techniques, while subsequent changes (covering, partitioning) reveal a continuous occupation. Its current state, although modified, makes it possible to understand urban life in Aquitaine in the 14th-17th centuries.

The location of the house, backed by fortifications, suggests a role both defensive and residential. The gaps closed and the subsequent reductions show the evolution of the building in response to socio-economic changes, such as the gradual disappearance of urban enclosures after the Middle Ages. Today, this monument offers a tangible testimony of the transitions between periods, combining military heritage and civilian habitat.

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