Hôtel du 18e siècle, actuellement sous-préfecture de Bellac

English translation

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History

It was not until January 1860 that the prefect, in the name of the Haute-Vienne department, signed the deed of acquisition of the present sub-prefecture building. It then belonged to Paul Lagorce, who was mayor of Bellac, but who did not live there. An undocumented tradition associates this dwelling with the Mallebay de la Mothe family. The commission for it should in fact be attributed, around 1775, to Jean-Joseph de Verdilhac, president lieutenant civil and criminal of the seneschalcy of Basse-Marche. After his death, in January 1781, the property passed to the family of his nephew, Martial de La Salle, sieur de la Traverserie. It was the son of the latter, François, from whom Paul Lagorce had bought the house in 1828. The building is representative of the dwellings that a few wealthy notables and royal officials of the Limoges region had built for themselves, in the second half of the 18th century. Under its broken roof, the hotel presents very sober classical façades, with their windows covered in a flattened arch, simply ornished by ironwork railings. On the garden side, a projecting section with three sides provides a central octagonal salon with abundant light. The period fittings, panelling and staircase with wrought iron railing, are largely preserved. The architect is not known: the names of Barbier, engineer of roads and highways of the generality of Limoges, author of a project for the bishopric which may have influenced this hotel, and also that of Vignaud, author of the château of Lachenaud in Bussière-Boffy, have been suggested.