Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house at 25 rue de Malzéville in Nancy was built between 1901 and 1903 for Victor Luc, an industrial tanner, on the plans of the Parisian architect Jacques Hermant. This project was part of an initial double order: the Victor and Paul Luc brothers had acquired in 1900 two adjacent plots to build their own home, but only Victor's one remains today. The building illustrates the alliance between Art Nouveau and local industry, with major contributions from exceptional artisans.

Louis Majorelle, emblematic figure of the École de Nancy, made the ironworks and furniture, while the ceramicists Gentil and Bourdet, located in Boulogne-Billancourt, adorned the cornice and stair ramp in flamed sandstone. The painter-glassman Jacques Gruber, another key member of the Nance movement, created a glass window representing a landscape of the Vosges, still visible. These collaborations reflect the development of decorative arts in Lorraine at the turn of the century, combining local know-how and Parisian influences.

Ranked Historic Monument in 2004, the house suffered major alterations in the 1980s: the park was reduced to three quarters and the communes destroyed to allow construction on Michelet Street. Despite these losses, the building retains protected elements, such as the stairwell and sandstone ramp, as well as the fireplace decorated with Gruber's window. These vestiges bear witness to bourgeois opulence and industrial patronage that marked Nancy at the time.

The first known project, dated 30 October 1900, reveals meticulous planning, characteristic of Hermant's achievements. The architect, trained in Paris, applied an eclectic style, integrating naturalist motifs dear to Art Nouveau. The house thus embodies a faste period for Nancy, then capital of the decorative arts, where industrialists and artists worked closely to shape a unique heritage.

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