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Origin and history

The master house of the Charpenterie was built in 1820 by Florent-Auguste-Amant Lemercier-Lepré, a bourgeois family from Angers. The latter, heir of land to Cornillé-les-Caves, had this neo-classical dwelling built on the site of an old 17th-century fence, the Charpenterie. The project reflected his desire to own a prestigious family residence, inspired by 18th-century Parisian private hotels, with a rigorous symmetry between court of honor, central body with pediment, and supervised outbuildings. The use of tuffeau, a local limestone stone, allowed adorned sculptures (guirlands, turtledoves, female heads), evoking a dedication to Love.

The architecture of the Charpenterie breaks with the traditional hierarchies: the main body and outbuildings ( stables, garage) share noble materials (stone of size, pediments), creating an effect of "theatrical decor". The south facade, almost identical to that of the north, has a right window holder on the first floor to illuminate the master's bedroom. A terrace below, framed by the wings, evokes a Palladian villa, with a central basin and an axial perspective towards a tower-lantern in the wood. This mixture of Parisian classicism and local adaptations (golden, blue slate) makes it a unique testimony of provincial neo-classicism.

Upon the death of Florent Lemercier-Lepré in 1862, the house, without a direct heir, was sold to Jules Charlery de la Masselière, a neighbouring owner. The latter, animated by a tenacious enmity, condemned the accesses and hid the house behind a curtain of trees to hide it, thus avoiding its demolition. This paradoxical abandonment preserved the building of subsequent transformations. The Charpentry experienced two brief reoccupations: in 1905, as a refuge for religious expelled after the law of separation of the Church and the State, and in 1944, during the German requisition during the Second World War. These episodes inspired its restoration in the 1950s-1960s by Pierre de la Martinière (gende des Charlery), followed by a second campaign in 2005.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2007, the Charpenterie owes its survival to its secular isolation. The protected elements include the observation tower, facades and roofs, commons, fence walls, as well as historical floors (island, courtyard, terrace, garden and orchard of the cadastre of 1830). Today private property, it illustrates the influence of Parisian models in the province and the role of bourgeois families in the diffusion of architectural styles in the 19th century.

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