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Origin and history

The mansion of the Ville-aux-Veneurs was built between 1761 and 1763 for Sébastien Moizan (1705-1779), a former lawyer in the parliament of Brittany who became a canvas merchant. The latter, also administrator of the property of the Cornulier family, built the main body and the dovecote. Its economic activity, centered on the trade of canvases, reflects the importance of this industry in central Brittany in the eighteenth century, with networks of launderers distributed in several local parishes such as Saint-Caradec or Hémonstoir.

Sébastien's son, Pierre-Anne Moizan (1740-1817), resumed family activity and enlarged the mansion by adding the east wing. He became the first mayor of Trevé in 1790, marking the political anchoring of the family in the region. His archives, covering 1772 to 1793, reveal a massive production of canvases (1,640 balls in 20 years), bleached by local artisans before export via Saint-Malo. This economic system, based on subcontracting and seasonality, illustrates the logistical and financial challenges of the merchants of the time.

In the 19th century, the mansion passed to Ange-Marie Moizan, son of Pierre-Anne, then to his daughter Jeanne-Marie, wife of doctor Jean-Auguste-Marie Oheix. Their descendant, historian André Oheix (1882-1915), lived there before the property remained in the Guillon family until the 1990s. The mansion, protected since 1975 for its facades, roofs, and interior decorations (wood staircases, living rooms), embodies the architectural and social heritage of the Breton merchant aristocracy. Its present state, after decades of abandonment, contrasts with its historical richness.

The place's toponymy, Ville-aux-Veneurs, evokes an origin linked to hunting (venor designating a hunter), while the term city refers here to a farm or country house, typical of the rural areas of Brittany. The manor, built of limestone and granite, is distinguished by its rumped roof adorned with skylights and a slate ligolet depicting equestrian scenes, now extinct. Its elongated plan, with a central body and two pavilions, is inspired by the manor houses of the 15th to 16th centuries, adapted to the 18th century residential needs.

Ranked a historic monument in 1975, the manor also illustrates the decline of the Breton canvas industry, already begun during the transmission to Ange-Marie Moizan. The family archives, studied by historians such as Yann Lagadec, shed light on Moizan's commercial networks and economic strategies, while emphasizing the role of local elites in managing rural areas. Now privately owned, the mansion is being restored, although some original decorative elements, such as the ignolet, have been lost.

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