Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house Clément, located in Sancerre in the Centre-Val de Loire, is a building dated 1520-1530, representative of civil architecture of the first half of the sixteenth century. This house, built on cellar, is distinguished by its gable on street decorated with polygonal pilasters and pinnacles with hooks, as well as by a turret of square staircase housing a staircase with screws. The façade, divided into three spans, has a frieze of Gothic foliage and a cornice, while Renaissance medallions, representing contemporary characters, mark the emergence of this new style. The apparent floor ceilings and the firm-bearing chevron frame bear witness to the constructive techniques of the time.

Originally, the house consisted of a room on the ground floor and two high bedrooms equipped with fireplaces, accessible by a side corridor leading to an inner courtyard. The staircase, located in an extraordinary tower, serves the floors and the summit. Although modified in the 18th and 19th centuries – notably through the transformation of bays and interior arrangements – the structure retains dominant Gothic elements, such as pilaster-framed crosses. However, these alterations removed part of the original decor, while preserving most of its historical character.

The house is associated with two local figures: André Clément, bailli of the county of Sancerre in 1573, and Romble Clément, bishop and deputy of the city in 1539 for the defense of the customs of Lorris. These references, drawn from bibliographic sources, underline its roots in Sancerre's administrative and legal history. Ranked a Historic Monument in 2009, the house includes in its protection the alley and adjoining outbuildings, illustrating its heritage importance in the medieval and reborn urban fabric of the region.

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