Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Cloud mansion, located in Dives-sur-Mer in Calvados, is a building dating from the first quarter of the 16th century. Its architecture combines a cubic building body, carved wooden lintels of birds, and a gable covered with terracotta shingles. At the back, its structure evokes a crenelated fortress, reflecting a duality between seigneurial habitat and defence. The house, the only protected element, was listed in the Historic Monuments on 21 June 1994.

According to historian Jacques Lalubie, the mansion could go back to the time of William the Conqueror, although its current construction was later. A local tradition evokes an underground once linking the mansion to the nearby church, although no archaeological evidence is mentioned in the available sources. This hypothesis would underline its strategic or religious importance in the Norman medieval landscape.

The woodwork construction, typical of the region, and the ornamented details (like the pairs of birds on lintels) illustrate the local craftsmanship of the early French Renaissance. The choice of terracotta shingles for the gable, a durable and aesthetic material, demonstrates an adaptation to Norman resources. Today, the mansion embodies a preserved architectural heritage, although its current use (visit, rental) is not specified in the sources.

Administrative data confirm its address at 2 Pablo-Picasso Street, in an area classified as having a "a priori satisfactory" location (note 7/10). Insee 14225 links Dives-sur-Mer to the Calvados department in Normandy. No information is available on any historic owners or significant events related to the site after the 16th century.

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