Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Maison La Rivette, located in Cauire-et-Cuire in the district of Cuire-le-Bas, has its origins since 1635 in the form of a modest country house. At that time, the estate consisted of four rooms spread over two floors, a stable, as well as vineyards and willows certified in 1669. It was only in the middle of the 18th century that the property was transformed into a sumptuous marina, with the addition of a French façade, terraced gardens, and a sophisticated hydraulic system.

The current square structure is distinguished by a monumental perron and a western nine-span facade on two floors, topped by a triangular pediment. The gardens, once descending to the Saône, incorporate remarkable elements such as a water jet, a waterfall, a rock cave, and monumental double-fly stairs. An independent chapel, where Charles Merlino was temporarily buried, completes the whole. In the east, a nymph is bordering a bean-shaped basin, showing the refinement of the layout.

The property changed hands frequently between the 17th and 19th centuries. Among his notable owners, Jean-Baptiste Pitra, a sniper from Lyon, undertook in the 18th century sumptuous works attributed to the architect Jacques-Germain Soufflot, worth at home the nickname Pitra madness. In 1786 Charles Merlino, then François Anginieur in 1816, made notable changes, such as an English park and an orangery. After a period of decline from 1922, the estate was acquired in 1972 by the civil Hospices of Lyon.

The Maison La Rivette has been protected since 1987 as historical monuments for its architectural and landscape elements: garden, nymphae, chapel, gate, facades, roofs, and a large room on the ground floor. Today, divided into condominiums, it preserves the testimony of Lyon's art of living in the Enlightenment, combining architectural elegance and hydraulic innovation.

The Reverend George M. Musgrave, in his travel account in Dauphiné (1857), describes La Rivette as an exceptional place, where orange and lemon trees in blossoms are surrounded by Greek statues, fountains, and granite caves, all organized with an acute sense of aesthetics and comfort. This testimony highlights the influence of homeowners' trips to London on the interior and exterior layout of the estate.

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