2h30 from Paris, in the Renaissance district of Bar-le-Duc, a listed townhouse from the 16th and 18th centuries and its terraced gardens

Reference: PB_370404

Go back
  • Reference
    PB_370404
  • Location
    Meuse, Bar-le-Duc
  • Category
    Villa
  • Price
    848.000€
  • Condition
    Non applicable
  • Bedrooms
    13
  • Bathrooms
    7
  • Energy Rating
    C
  • Property area
    470m2
2h30 from Paris, in the Renaissance district of Bar-le-Duc, a listed townhouse from the 16th and 18th centuries and its terraced gardens
2h30 from Paris, in the Renaissance district of Bar-le-Duc, a listed townhouse from the 16th and 18th centuries and its terraced gardens.
Bar-le-Duc has been awarded the City of Art and History label by the French Ministry of Culture and Communication and boasts one of the most striking Renaissance town centres in France.
A unique art form is practised here, which has been perpetuated for centuries: the removal of seeds from redcurrants with a quill pen to make an exquisite jam, the "Bar caviar".
The "RenaissanceS Festival" takes place every year on the first weekend of July. This event is an original and explosive blend of street arts: theatre, circus and music with an innovative programme that triggers the magic of unusual encounters between artists and the public.
In Gallo-Roman times, a small town was founded on the Ornain river. In the 5th century, when the population increased, the town expanded to include the Bourg district, surrounded by a protective wall.
Chosen as the capital of the Duchy, Bar-le-Duc continued its expansion in the 13th century creating the upper town which the Duke of Bar fortified with a double rampart. In the 16th century, the wooden and cob houses were replaced by Renaissance-style dressed stone buildings.
Following the wars against the Kings of France, the castle and its rampart were demolished by order of Louis XIV. All that remain are the 16th century Neuf Castel standing on the site of the former medieval fortress, the clock tower and the Eyblot tower, built in the 14th century.
The property is located in the fortified part of the medieval perimeter wall, rue des Ducs de Bar.
From the street, it comprises two main buildings connected by a wing with a hanging gallery forming an enclosed courtyard of approx. 56 m² which opens through a porch onto the terraced gardens framed by outbuildings. The first garden offers approx. 400m2, the second below approx. 330m2.
The townhouseThe complex is constructed of dressed limestone. A slight iron oxide content lends the stones the characteristic blond colour of the Bar region.
The typical Renaissance style street facade has five bays. It is built on three levels emphasised by sculpted string courses under a high slate roof. Each level is adorned with six pilasters featuring recessed mouldings, topped by Corinthian capitals that support a frieze with fish scale motifs. On the upper part, just below the roof, short pilasters carry six overhanging gargoyles.
The high windows lost their mullions in the 18th century to provide more light.
A commemorative plaque is fixed above the entrance porch. It recalls that this is the place where the novelist Georges Bernanos wrote his first novel "Sous le soleil de Satan (Under the Sun of Satan) when he lived here from 1924 to 1926.
At the back of this house, behind the courtyard boasting an exceptional wooden watchtower set on a Renaissance structure, stands an 18th century building with high windows. It is extended on either side by two 19th century brick and stone lodges under a roof with tiles in a fish scale pattern. A stone balustrade built in the 18th century closes off this first garden, forming an esplanade next to the Eyblot tower, which offers an exceptional view of the valley and, in the distance, the former 16th century castle of the Dukes of Bar, known as the "Neuf Castel", which has been transformed into a museum.
The second garden below, planted with fruit trees, is accessed via a double flight of stone steps.
The facades and roofs on the street, courtyards and rear, as well as the 19th century brick lodges, terrace and retaining wall from the 18th century, including the garden plot below, are listed as Historic Monuments.
Ground floor
The ground floor of the building on the street has been converted into a self-contained flat of approximately 78m2. It comprises, from the courtyard entrance door, under the wooden watchtower, a corridor which serves a living room, a fully equipped kitchen with central island for meals, a bedroom, a shower room and a toilet. The floors, too damaged to be preserved, have been replaced by an engineered parquet, but the 18th and 19th century marble fireplaces and some woodwork are still in place. However, it would be possible to restore the ensemble to its original state.
The main residence offers many doors to the outside but the most used entrance is from the courtyard, through the open arched porch, via a corridor along the stone staircase and its 18th century wrought iron banister which leads to the first floor gallery. The oak door opens into a cloakroom with a toilet followed by the dining room. The floor is laid with polished Burgundy tiles. A stone recess with an architrave on the upper entablature and a shell rinceau decor, probably from the early 18th century, extends over the entire height of the room. The sitting room follows on from the main building on the garden side, bathed in light by the high 18th century windows with espagnolette locks. It features three moulded panels, the central one with an ogee moulding, set at the height of the overmantel under the beams. The 18th century double doors are topped with romantic scenes in the style of Jean-Baptiste Huet or Antoine Watteau. The stone chimney in harmony with its overmantel is delicately carved. It has straight strip solid oak parquet flooring, and the adjoining study herringbone parquet. Via a hallway, it opens directly onto a second entrance on the courtyard side.
The kitchen is located in the wing facing the garden at right angles, near the dining room. Narrow and long, with no notable architectural features, it is preceded by a scullery with a wall entirely lined with large 18th century oak cupboards and followed by a service staircase at its end rising up to the first floor.
First floor
Four flights of stairs provide access to this level, two of which are from the wings facing the garden at right angles. On the street side, a small bedroom of approx. 10m2, with no particular architectural features, a shower room and a toilet are followed by a second more spacious late Louis XVI style bedroom of approx. 32m2 with woodwork including lozenges and fluted pilasters on the black marble fireplace overmantel. This bedroom and the adjacent library feature oak parquet flooring with a ladder pattern. The striking library boasts an 18th century turquoise blue fireplace with a stone overmantel, framed by large 17th century panelled cupboards up to the height of the cornices.
Next follows a television room that links the Renaissance building on the street side with the 18th century residence on the garden side. The entire height of the room is clad with wood panelling cut into two Regency style panels.
A side corridor then leads to three bedrooms, two of which have 18th century stone fireplaces with overmantels, and one of which offers a period alcove framed by glass cupboards. The floor is 18th century parquet. This level still has a 1960s shower room and a small bedroom above the kitchen.
Second floor
A staircase from the first floor corridor leads to the attic space. Extending across approx. 260m2, this area has potential for conversion.
Cellar
There are four cellars under the entire townhouse, with a surface area of approximately 140m2. The outbuildingsThe right wing, of dressed stone, echoes the architectural style of the townhouse to which it is attached by a watchtower. The French louvered shutters follow the slightly arched shape of the windows. The ground floor has a toilet, a storage room and a room with a fireplace/forge. A staircase leads to the first floor and serves a loft, a bathroom and a kitchen connecting to the first floor of the townhouse.
In its extension, a second 19th-century brick and stone building houses the former stables. Opposite, the 19th century two-storey left wing, also of brick and stone with a gable terrace, forms a space with arched openings of approximately 42m2, as does the games room on the first floor.
The outbuildings offer approximately 180m2.

Request more Information