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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The "Bailli" house, located in Felletin, New Aquitaine, Creuse, is an urban hotel built between the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The building develops around an irregular courtyard, accessible from Terrefume Street by a broken arch portal topped by a white shield. Its main façade, pierced with chamfered windows with prominent support, includes a corbelled scald and a circular turret with a screw staircase. These elements, typical of Renaissance civil architecture, contrast with the medieval wood-pan structure and torchi visible on the north elevation.

The hotel, built on a corner plot, comprises two two-storey houses, connected by a gallery extending the stair tower. A vaulted cellar in the middle of the hangar, accessible from the first building, extends under the courtyard and the second house. Although often called "Bailli House", this name is not supported by any historical source. Subsequent changes, such as the destruction of an 18th-century wing in 1967 or the overhaul of the grids and interior structure, altered its original appearance, including the main access, originally located on Terrefume Street.

Partially classified as historical monuments since 24 May 1965 (street and courtyard facades, roofs), this house illustrates the architectural evolution of Felletin, marked by a specific moulding to 16th century civilian hotels. Owned by the family of La Porte in the 19th century (in particular Marie Claude François de La Porte in 1817), it bears witness to the social status of its occupants, although its traditional name remains undocumented. The visible spirals rue Terrefume and the niche above the staircase door underline its defensive and residential character.

The available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum, Merimée base) locate the building at 6 bis rue Terrefume and 4 rue du Clocher, with an approximate GPS location. Its present state is the result of restorations and deletions (like the old grids), while its original vocation — aristocratic or official residence — remains hypothetical in the absence of contemporary written evidence.

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