Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Villa des Fontaines-Dieu, located in Samois-sur-Seine in Île-de-France, originates in a place marked by a source with miraculous properties. This spring once fed the mill of the Bréau, attested as early as 1603. Although a spa project had never been completed, a modest forest house was built there, before being transformed into a luxurious residence between 1896 and 1912 by its owner, the publisher Ernest Girard.

In 1896 Girard undertook the first modifications, followed by a major extension in 1912. The veranda was renovated in 1903 to accommodate a billiard room, while a large hall, called the "painting gallery", was added in 1910, lit by a glass window. The architect Eugène Cottin oversees this work, incorporating decorative elements typical of the period: half-timbers, Gothic lintels and carpentry style '1900'. The villa thus embodies the architecture of the pleasure houses bordering the Seine at the turn of the 20th century.

The villa, including its garden and gate, is listed as historical monuments by order of 18 March 2002. It illustrates the style of the Affolantes, an architectural current popular for secondary residences of the Parisian elite. Its interior decor, particularly neat, and its location on the Franklin-Roosevelt wharf make it a remarkable testimony of this time.

The site also retains a historical dimension linked to its environment: the source of the Fountains-Dieu, although not having given rise to a thermal exploitation, remains a symbolic element of the local heritage. The villa, always privately owned, perpetuates this link between nature, architecture and history.

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