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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The villa des Roches Brunes, located aisle des Douaniers in Dinard (Ille-et-Vilaine), was built in 1893 by the architect Alexandre Angier for the Parisian designer Émile Poussineau. The latter, brother of the promoter Auguste Poussineau, ordered a villa of neo-Louis XIII style, unique in Dinard. Its name would come from the rocky spur on which it is erected, at the end of the point of the Falkland, offering stunning views of the sea.

The site is part of a vast estate acquired in 1879 by Auguste Poussineau, former hunting estate of the Duke of Audiffret-Pasquier. After dividing the land into plots, he built luxurious villas, including Les Roches Brunes. A victim of financial difficulties, Émile Poussineau sold the villa in 1912. She then changed hands several times: bought in 1938 by the Dutch industrialist Alexandre Braud, she was passed on to her son Paul, the last private owner.

The villa, very little modified since its construction, illustrates the eclectic architecture of the Belle Époque, mixing historical inspirations and seeking prestige. It was listed as a Historic Monument in 2014, after being donated to the city of Dinard in 2007 by Paul Braud. A renovation between 2012 and 2014 makes it possible to organize exhibitions and cultural workshops.

Note the existence of a twin villa, Greystones, built at the other end of the beach of Port Salut by industrialist Théophile Michau. Destroyed in 1938 by architect Michel Roux-Spitz, it gives way to a modern villa, Greystones 2. This duo of villas symbolized the golden age of the Danube seaside residences, marked by the influence of French and foreign elites.

In a neo-Louis XIII style, the villa is distinguished by its juxtaposed buildings and a square turret with a roof in the pavilion. Its terraced garden, descending to the sea, is surrounded by imposing fence walls. These features are a rare testimony of the large seaside houses of the late 19th century, succeeding the first English settlements of the 1850s-1860s.

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