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Villa Guy à Béziers dans l'Hérault

Villa Guy

    2 Rue Verdi
    34500 Béziers
Ownership of a private company

Timeline

XIXe siècle
Époque contemporaine
1900
2000
vers 1867
Construction of the villa
1870
Acquisition by Guy
1918
Creation of the garden
1955-1958
Partial loti of the garden
1990-1991
Historical Monument
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui

Heritage classified

The facades and roofs of the villa (Box NS 512, 513): inscription by decree of 23 January 1990 - The garden with all its built and non-built elements, its decoration and works of art (building decor, in particular: large hemicycle, bas-reliefs, fountains, benches, terracotta and mosaic floors, statuary ...) (Case NS 512, 513) : classification by order of 30 April 1991

Key figures

Léopold Carlier - Architect Designer of the villa (1867).
Jean et Joseph Guy - Wine owners Garden sponsors in 1918.
Jean-Claude-Nicolas Forestier - Landscape architect Creator of the New Moorish Garden.
Jean-Antoine Injalbert - Sculptor Author of garden works.
Jean Magrou - Sculptor Contributor to carved decorations.

Origin and history

Villa Guy was built around 1867 in Béziers by architect Léopold Carlier in a Flemish style, initially for a family of German Swiss. Acquised in 1870 by the Guy, a family of wealthy wine growers, it became a symbol of their prosperity. Its eclectic architecture reflects the rare North European influences in southern France.

In 1918, brothers Jean and Joseph Guy entrusted landscape architect Jean-Claude-Nicolas Forestier with the creation of a modern garden of one hectare. Inspired by Mediterranean and neo-Mauresque motifs, this park includes sculptures by Jean-Antoine Injalbert and Jean Magrou, such as bas-reliefs, fountains and terracotta benches. This garden, partially loti in the 1950s, was restored in 1991.

Classified as a Historical Monument, the villa has its facades and roofs registered in 1990, while the garden, with its built elements and its statuary, is classified in 1991. Today, private property, it illustrates the mixture of decorative arts and horticulture of the early twentieth century, typical of the bourgeois wine houses of Languedoc.

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