Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The house of the Duchess Anne, also known as the Queen Anne's house, is a medieval house classified as a historical monument, located in the old town of Morlaix, Brittany. Built between 1520 and 1530, its decorative style and historical context (Morlaix Pillow by the English in 1522) suggest this dating. Although her name evokes the Duchess Anne of Brittany, no evidence confirms her visit to this building.

The house follows a typical plan of "houses with lantern" (or lay in Breton), with two bodies of buildings separated by an inner courtyard covered 16 meters high. The floors are served by a wooden screw staircase, richly carved with motifs (persons, foliage, wild), supported by an 11-metre column carved from a single tree trunk. The granite facade on the ground floor features wooden panels initially filled with a mixture of clay, rhythmized by 10 statues (4 saints and 6 secular figures).

Ranked a historic monument in 1883, the house preserves a remarkable carved wooden staircase. Open to the public from Easter holidays to Toussaint (closed on Sundays), it embodies the Breton civil architecture of the Renaissance. Its exact address is 33 rue du Mur (formerly rue des Nobles), in Finistère.

Available sources (Wikipedia, Monumentum) highlight its heritage importance, although the accuracy of its location is assessed as poor (note 5/10). The house remains a major testimony of the 16th century Morlaisian urbanism, mixing residential and symbolic functions.

External links