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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Maison de Pierre Corneille, located in Petit-Couronne near Rouen, is a Norman mansion dating back to the 17th century, characteristic of its wood sections and its essentiality in the Ardennes. Acquired in 1608 by the writer's father, she served as a "house of the fields" to keep the family away from urban epidemics. The estate, including 24 hectares of land, was inherited by Pierre Corneille in 1639 before being sold by his son in 1686.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1939, the property became public in 1874 under the management of the Seine-Maritime General Council. Restorations were carried out between 1879 and 1920, especially on the frame. The southern facade, rebuilt around 1856, partially altered its original appearance. Today, the museum preserves the memory of the playwright and his work.

The mansion was originally purchased to pay family mortgages, although Corneille's father hoped to make it a source of income through land rental. Contrary to a tenacious legend, it was not the fragility of Peter as a child that motivated the purchase, but a patrimonial calculation. The site remains a rare testimony of the secondary residences of the Wheels elite in the Great Century.

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