Maison dite La Maison à trois carres

English translation

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History

The three-square house (that is to say with three angles or three faces) on the chemin des Petites Chaumes, at Pêchereau, near Argenton-sur-Creuse (Indre), was built in 1786 by a contractor from Argenton, for brother Jean (Baptiste) Brunet, officer of the maréchaussée and member of the Masonic lodge of the Parfaite Union of Argenton since its establishment in 1780. This notable affirms his Masonic identity in a country house built in the shape of a triangle, on a plot of land also triangular, surrounded by vines planted on the hillsides dominating the valley of the Creuse. In the 18th century, freemasonry was only rarely a direct source of architectural inspiration. Far from being a spectacular or imaginary construction as are the triangular plan in the shape of a trowel projected for a Masonic lodge by an English architect published in a collection of the second half of the 18th century, or the ruined pyramid in the gardens of the château de Maupertuis, built around 1780 by Brongniart for the Marquis de Montesquiou who had sketched the idea of holding Masonic meetings there, this simple house is nonetheless exceptional by its triangular form, the symbol and ideology it expresses. Very rare example of speaking architecture of the 18th century, it reflects the diffusion of Enlightenment philosophy in Bas-Berry.