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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

La malouinière de Launay-Ravilly, located in Saint-Père-Marc-en-Poulet (Ille-et-Vilaine), is a bourgeois residence built in 1732 for François Baudran (1683–1743), a lawyer in Parliament and member of an old Malian family. This monument illustrates the sober architecture of medium-sized malouinries, with a quadrangular house, a closed courtyard, and outbuildings organized for the autarchy (pigeon, pool, stables). Its interior plan, centered on a dining room flanked by a living room and kitchen, reflects the typical layout of these 18th century houses.

The estate, formerly owned by the Goüyon family, passes through successive inheritances (of Treal, Guitté, Québriac) before being acquired in 1550 by Jehan de Launay. The current malouinière, built on the latter's lands, retains an almost intact interior decoration (lambria, slabs, chimneys), with the exception of the renovated living room in the 19th century. Its complete environment (closed garden, courtyard, access rabine) is exceptionally preserved, which earned it an inscription at Historic Monuments in 1994. The oral tradition states that she has remained in the same family since its construction.

Launay-Ravilly's architecture combines true and false modeling, with granite facades and a slate-style hipped roof. Its sober, three-span elevations and compact distribution make it a "perfect" malouinière model, comparable to the White Wall. The site also includes two pavilions (ovens and latrines), a hopper, and a dovecote, reflecting its role as home to the autarchic fields. The study by Jean-Jacques Rioult (1994) highlights its constructive quality and its remarkable state of conservation, rare for malouinries of this size.

The malouinière inspired artists, such as the American painter Jane Irish, who represented him among other Malouin residences. Its listing in the Inventory of Historic Monuments covers the entire house and its enclosure (cadastre C 216, 222, etc.), thus protecting an architectural and landscape heritage representative of the golden age of Saint Malo in the eighteenth century.

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