Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house called Le Bois Not, located in La Jarne in Charente-Maritime, is a house whose origins date back to the 16th century, but whose oldest still visible parts date back to the 17th century. In 1543 Robert Lambert, a merchant from Rochelais, was the lord, before the property passed to François Tallemant, notable of La Rochelle. The house is marked by a Flemish influence, inherited from the Dutch who participated in the drying of the surrounding marshes in the mid-17th century. This period also saw the Bardet family, including Charles Bardet, commander of the ship, and his sister Hélène, wife of Hélie Véroneau, king's adviser, playing a key role in her history.

At the beginning of the 18th century, after having been rented to Michel de Vervins, Marshal of camp and knight of Saint-Louis, the property was sold in 1716 to Pierre Boyer, merchant of rock. The latter added a dovecote and a domestic chapel, before the estate passed to his daughter Elizabeth, wife of the shipowner Marc-Antoine Lefebvre, bishop of La Rochelle. The monument, partially rebuilt in the 18th century, preserves remarkable architectural elements such as an access gate, Flemish-style gables, and a wrought iron ramp staircase. Its history continued in the 19th century with its acquisition by the family of Chérade de Montbron, which linked it to the nearby castle of Buzay.

Ranked a historic monument in 1973 for its facades, roofs, and interior elements such as the staircase ramp, Le Bois Not House illustrates the links between local aristocracy, rock merchants and North European architectural influences. Its inscription protects the parts of the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the dovecote, witnesses to the successive transformations of the site. Today, the house remains a significant example of the rural and bourgeois heritage of the region, marked by the commercial and maritime activities of La Rochelle.

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