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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Farnault House, located in Sancerre in the Cher, is a civil building dating mainly from the 15th century, although its octagonal staircase turret can go back to the 12th century. The hotel is distinguished by its vaulted cellar in the middle of the hanger, its twisted core screw staircase, and its exposed ceiling. The foundations and the frame suggest a construction between the late 15th and early 16th centuries, when the Lord of Herry, having exchanged his home in 1474, could have been the sponsor according to local archives.

Originally probably intended for municipal use, the house then served as a cure for Notre-Dame church. In the 18th century, it belonged to Jean Bouhin, a cooper, and then to a congregation of nuns. Confiscated as a national property in 1793, it will briefly house the sub-prefecture before being sold in 1800. The stairway tower was enhanced in 1860 by the notary Quillet, then the building served as a kindergarten around 1950.

Falling in ruins in the 1970s, the Farnault House was saved in 1996 by Sancerian winemakers who undertook a complete restoration, completed in the early 2000s. Classified as a historic monument in 1968 for its facades and roofs, it illustrates the architectural and social evolution of a bourgeois house, from seigneurial residence to communal building, then to local wine heritage.

The archives mention its connection to the Count of Sancerre and its role in municipal life, while the successive modifications (low wing added, tower elevation) reflect the adaptations to the needs of each era. Its well and defensive elements also recall its importance in the medieval and modern urban fabric.

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