Hôtel Haguenot

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

Outside the city walls, the land situated south of the Peyrou was sold in 1740 to the monks of Mercy to rebuild their convent there. When the church was rebuilt, in 1747, the monks granted in perpetual lease the land remaining available between the church and the Peyrou. Haguenot was one of the emphyteutes, in 1751 and then in 1757 for a second plot. Henri Haguenot was a counsellor at the chamber of accounts and professor at the University of Medicine. He is regarded as the founder of the library of the Faculty of Medicine. He called upon the architect Jean-Antoine Giral to build, in these gardens, a hotel whose construction was completed before 1760. The small entrance pavilions would be later than the central building. The entrance gate would date from 1789-1790. The central pavilion is built in such a way as to leave, between its façade and the great gate, a space occupied by a garden and a terrace. On the seven openings of the single raised storey, the three central ones are grouped in an avant-corps framed by rusticated pilasters and dominated by a large triangular pediment. The original entrance door, from 1760, opens onto rue Clapiès. The tall pilasters are plain and bear twin consoles, decorated with foliage. The whole is crowned with a cornice moulding. The keystone of the arch is carved with a head. The doors are cut from solid wood and decorated with two motifs (shells and ribbon-entwined sprays). On the side of rue de la Merci, the garden is enclosed by a large axial portal. Two square pilasters, topped with pine cones, connect to two oval columns, banded with five vermiculated bosses. These two pillars support flower vases, decorated with ram's heads linked by garlands of roses. Inside, four rooms of the central pavilion have retained their original decoration. The entrance vestibule presents, at each corner, a caryatid supporting the moulded cornice. Twin pilasters with volute capitals and pendants divide the walls into panels. In the dining room, the walls are divided by large plain panels framed with reed beading ribbon-entwined. The corners are adorned with grotesques. The three door panels above are decorated with plasterwork depicting a season, winter occupying the medallion above the fireplace. In the bedroom, the plasterwork represents foliage, fruits and doves, as well as the attributes of music and love. Finally, the ceiling of the office has retained its corner rosettes above a continuous frieze with garland. Four medallions arranged above each of the two double doors and the two French windows symbolize the seasons.