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Origin and history

The Urville mansion is a seigneurial residence built in the early 16th century, in a flamboyant Gothic style characteristic of the nascent Renaissance. Located in the town of Urville, in the department of Manche (region Normandy), it is distinguished by its white stone architecture, organized in square around a closed courtyard. The main house, in the shape of a "L", is built around a turret of an angle and has finely carved windows, while the commons, contemporaries of the main body, complete the whole.

The facades of the mansion bear witness to a remarkable architectural know-how, with bays adorned with accolades, double window windows, and a door in the middle of the wall giving access to the left wing. Inside, elements such as screw stairs, old chimneys, and berry dusts were preserved. The building, partially listed as a historical monument since 1997, also includes a dovecote and a double doorway, reflecting its noble residence status and its original agricultural organization.

The manor is part of a historical context marked by the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, when the local lords claimed their power through ostentatious constructions. Close to the church of Saint-Julien d'Urville, it illustrates the importance of the links between the Earth's aristocracy and religious structures in the spatial organization of the Norman villages. Its state of conservation and heritage protection make it today a representative example of the civil architecture of the Channel in the early 16th century.

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