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Origin and history

The house Picplate is a naive architectural creation located in Chartres, by Raymond Isidore (1900-1964), nicknamed "Picplate". A municipal employee as a cantoner and then a cemetery sweeper, he built his house in the 1930s before decorating it entirely with mosaics from 1938. The materials, recovered from landfills, are pieces of dishes, porcelain and glass, assembled with cement. His nickname, mocking or admiring, evokes both his habit of "picking plates" and a comparison with Picasso.

The interior of the house is decorated with frescoes depicting local landscapes such as Mont Saint-Michel or the Cathedral of Chartres, embellished with broken ceramic floral motifs. The walls, ceilings and even the furniture are covered with mosaics, while the floor incorporates fragments of marble. Short of interior space, Isidore extends his work outside: facade, garden alleys, walls of enclosure and a chapel built between 1953 and 1956. External motifs include the William Gate (destroyed in 1944), female figures symbolizing Palestinian and French, and representations of the cathedral.

Isidore's dreams inspired his work, as his widow and loved ones testify. His words reveal a quest for social redemption: "We put a sweeper in a cemetery like someone who is rejected among the dead." His work, initially perceived as marginal, became a symbol of resistance and collective creation. After his death in 1964, the house was acquired by the city of Chartres in 1981 and classified as a historical monument in 1983. It is now managed by the Museum of Fine Arts of the city and labeled "Twentieth Century Heritage".

Picplate's legacy goes beyond his home. In the 1980s, its neighbourhood, the Hauts-de-Chartres, was inspired by its philosophy to create mosaic workshops and a neighbourhood governance that promoted social inclusion. The "Picplate Award", awarded at the International Mosaic Meetings, perpetuates its influence. In 2017, an act of vandalism damaged a model of the cathedral in the garden, quickly restored by the town hall. Contemporary tributes, such as a drawing for 2025 or a documentary film, highlight its lasting cultural impact.

The Picplate house embodies spontaneous architecture, born of misery and imagination. Isidore sees it as a metaphor for social reconstruction, saying: "Many could do the same, but they don't dare". His work, both intimate and monumental, combines naive art, social demand and spirituality, as evidenced by his phallic statues or his "Spirit tomb". Classified and protected, it remains a place of memory and inspiration for artists and residents of Chartres.

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