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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Tunisian villa is a private villa in Hyères, Var department, built in 1884 by the architect Pierre Chapoulart. He made it his personal residence and his agency. The building, representative of the neo-Maureque style, is distinguished by its overpassed arches, merlons and polychrome decorations, typical of the stylistic conventions of the time. The facades, roofs and fences on the street, preserved in their original state, have been listed as historical monuments since 1999.

The villa is part of the urban development of Hyères as a weather and tourist resort in the 19th century. The western part of the city, promoted by Alexis Godillot from the 1860s, saw the emergence of several constructions signed Chapoulart, including three orientalist villas. Although the outside of the Tunisian Villa has been preserved, its interior has lost its original amenities. The building thus illustrates the enthusiasm of the era for architectural exoticism, mixing Maghreb influences and local techniques such as moulded cement or tiles.

The villa shares stylistic similarities with Villa Mauresque, another construction of Chapoulart in Hyères the same year. Its central atrium, initially open sky, organized the reception rooms upstairs. The partial registration of historic monuments in 1999 (façades, roofs and fences) underscores its heritage value, while reflecting the transformations in interior spaces over time.

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