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Origin and history

The malouinière du Puits Sauvage, located in Saint-Malo in the hamlet of Saint-Étienne, was built between 1729 and 1732 by architect Michel Marion for the Nouël family of Baronnie, descendant of a nephew of Jacques Cartier. This monument illustrates the golden age of the malouinières, country residences erected by the shipowners and privateers enriched by the maritime trade and the race in the eighteenth century. Its sober architecture, with a house flanked by two low wings and a steep roof, reflects the characteristic style of these houses.

The property, originally acquired by the Nouël de la Baronnie, passed into the hands of the Marion family in 1799, then in 1807 to the Gauttier family by the marriage of Thérèse Marion with Louis Gauttier, shipowner and friend of Robert Surcouf. Among his notable owners was Rear Admiral Pierre-Henry Gauttier of the Parc (1772-1850), who in 1820 brought back cactias of Montevideo, thus founding a botanical collection still present. The malouinière was severely damaged during the Second World War, losing its laundry, west wing and gardener's pavilion under bombardment.

Ranked a historic monument in 1990, the malouinière benefited from a methodical restoration led by Jean Gauttier, a heritage architect and current owner, awarded in 2013 by the National Prize of the Vieilles Maisons Françaises. The estate, open to the public since 1998, houses one hectare of French-style gardens, a tropical greenhouse of 800 species of cactia, and remarkable outbuildings like an 18th century horse swimming pool. His recent history was marked by controversy in 2015, opposed to a hospital project threatening his protected perimeter.

The house, with an area of 550 m2, retains original elements such as 18th-century panelling, mythological gypseries, and historical furniture including letters of mark and navigational instruments. The gardens, reconstituted since 1999, combine geometric groves, orchards, and a terrace evoking the corsair universe with wooden spars and cannons. The malouinière also inspires literature, serving as a setting for Frédéric Mars' La Breiz Brigade police series.

The architecture of the Puits Sauvage is distinguished by its square courtyard and its two side stairs, an unusual arrangement among the malouinières. Despite the partial destruction of its dependencies and gardens during the war, the site preserved its authenticity, thanks in particular to the uninterrupted family transmission since 1807. The collection of cactae, initiated in the 19th century, bears witness to the Malouin maritime exchanges, while the lubratory, dovecote and well of 1746 complete this exceptional heritage.

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