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Origin and history

This house, located in Richelieu, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, is a typical example of the houses designed by architect Jacques Lemercier during the creation of the town fortified by Cardinal de Richelieu in the 17th century. The rectangular plan of the city, innovative for the time, replaced the traditional orthogonal planes centered. The houses, organized around two squares and the Grande Rue, followed a uniform distribution, while varying according to the importance of the streets. This urban model reflected the will to structure and control characteristic of the cardinal's projects.

The construction of this house is part of a specific context: on February 11, 1633, Cardinal de Richelieu gave a land to Léon Bouthillier to build a hotel there according to Lemercier's plans. On 3 March 1633 Bouthillier signed a contract with the entrepreneur Jean Barbet, followed by a second contract with Jean Thiriot on 16 April 1633. The building preserves remarkable elements, such as 18th-century stone chimneys, a staircase with carved balusters, and a paved courtyard. The communes, originally dedicated to services, were transformed into homes.

Classified as a Historical Monument, this house illustrates the architectural heritage of Richelieu. The façade and roof on the Grande-Rue have been protected since 1932, while other parts (inner courtyard, porch, staircase) were listed in 2002. These protections underline its importance in the French urban heritage, linked to the cardinal's architectural and political utopia.

The ideal Richelieu project was designed to embody power and modernity. The houses, although standardized, offered subtle variations depending on their location, reflecting a social and spatial hierarchy. The architect Lemercier, already known for his work at the Palais-Cardinal (future Palais-Royal), applied principles of symmetry and rationality, lastingly marking French urban planning.

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