Townhouse
A townhouse, townhome, or town house as used in North America, Australia, South Africa and parts of Europe, is a type of terraced housing. A modern town house is one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In British usage, the term referred to the city residence of someone whose main or largest residence was a country house. A townhouse was the city residence of a noble or wealthy family, who would own one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year. From the 18th century and their servants would move to a townhouse during the social season. In the United Kingdom, most townhouses are terraced. Only a small minority of them the largest, were detached, but aristocrats whose country houses had grounds of hundreds or thousands of acres lived in terraced houses in town. For example, the Duke of Norfolk owned Arundel Castle in the country, while his London house, Norfolk House, was a terraced house in St James's Square over 100 feet wide. In the United States and Canada, a townhouse has two connotations.
The older predates the automobile and denotes a house on a small footprint in a city, but because of its multiple floors, it has a large living space with servants' quarters. The small footprint of the townhouse allows it to be within walking or mass-transit distance of business and industrial areas of the city, yet luxurious enough for wealthy residents of the city. Townhouses are expensive where detached single-family houses are uncommon, such as in New York City, Boston, Toronto, Washington, DC, San Francisco. Rowhouses are similar and consist of several adjacent, uniform units found in older, pre-automobile urban areas such as Baltimore, Charleston and New Orleans, but now found in lower-cost housing developments in suburbs as well. A townhouse is where there is a continuous roof and foundation, a single wall divides adjacent townhouses, but some have a double wall with inches-wide air space in between on a common foundation. A rowhouse will be smaller and less luxurious than a dwelling called a townhouse.
The name townhouse or townhome was used to describe non-uniform units in suburban areas that are designed to mimic detached or semi-detached homes. Today, the term, townhouse, is used to describe units mimicking a detached home that are attached in a multi-unit complex; the distinction between living units called apartments and those called townhouses is that townhouses consist of multiple floors and have their own outside door as opposed to having only one level and/or having access via an interior hallway or via an exterior balcony-style walkway. Another distinction is that in most areas of the US outside of the largest cities, apartment refers to rental housing, townhouse refers to an individually owned dwelling, although the term townhouse-style apartment is heard. Townhouses can be "stacked"; such homes have multiple units vertically each with its own private entrance from the street or at least from the outside. They can be side by side in a row of three or more, in which case they are sometimes referred to as rowhouses.
A townhouse in a group of two could be referred to as a townhouse, but in Canada and the US, it is called a semi-detached home and in some areas of western Canada, a half-duplex. In Canada, single-family dwellings, be they any type, such as single-family detached homes, mobile homes, or townhouses, for example, are split into two categories of ownership: Condominium, where one owns the interior of the unit and a specified share of the undivided interest of the remainder of the building and land known as common elements. Freehold, where one owns the land and the dwelling without any condominium aspects; these may share the foundation as well but have narrow air spaces between and still referred to as a townhouse. Condominium townhouses, just like condominium apartments, are referred to as condos, thus referring to the type of ownership rather than to the type of dwelling. Since apartment style condos are the most common, when someone refers to a condo, many erroneously assume that it must be an apartment-style dwelling and conversely that only apartment-style dwellings can be condos.
All types of dwellings can be condos, this is therefore true of townhouses. A brownstone townhouse is a particular variety found in New York. In Asia and South Africa, the usage of the term follows the North American sense. Townhouses are found in complexes. Large complexes have high security, resort facilities such as swimming pools, gyms and playground equipment. A townhouse has a Strata Title. In population-dense Asian cities dominated by high-rise residential apartment blocks, such as Hong Kong, townhouses in private housing developments remain exclusively populated by the wealthy due to the rarity and large sizes of the units. Prominent examples in Hong Kong include Severn 8, in which a 5,067-square-foot townhouse sold for HK$285 million in 2008, or HK$57,000 per square foot, a record in Asia, The Beverly Hills, which consists of multiple rows of townhouses with some units as large as 11,000 square feet. In the suburbs of major cities, an old house on a large block of land is demolished and repl
Cour d'honneur
Cour d'honneur is the architectural term for a three-sided ceremonial courtyard, created by flanking the main central block, or corps de logis, with symmetrical advancing secondary wings containing minor rooms. The Palace of Versailles and Blenheim Palace both feature such entrance courts; some 16th-century symmetrical Western European country houses built on U-shaped groundplans resulted in a sheltered central door in a main range, embraced between projecting wings, but the formalized cour d'honneur is first found in the great palaces and mansions of 17th-century Europe, where it forms the principal approach and ceremonial entrance to the building. Its open courtyard is presented like the classical permanent theatre set of a proscenium stage, such as the built Roman set of opposed palazzi in a perspective street at Palladio's Teatro Olimpico. Like the theatre set the built environment is defined and enclosed from the more public space by ornate wrought iron gilded railings. A development replaced the railings with an open architectural columnar screen, as at Palais Royal, Schönbrunn Palace, Alexander Palace, or Henry Holland's Ionic screen at Carlton House, London.
Technically, the term cour d'honneur can be used of any large building whether public or residential, ancient or modern, which has a symmetrical courtyard set apart in this way, at which the honored visitor arrives. Examples of a cour d'honneur can be found in many of the most notable Baroque and classicizing buildings of Europe including the Palazzo Pitti, one of the first 16th century residences to open a cour d'honneur—in the Pitti's case by embracing three sides of an existing public space. Other 16th century urban palazzi remained resolutely enclosed, like Rome. In Rome, the wings of Carlo Maderno's Palazzo Barberini design, were the first that reached forward from a central block to create a cour d'honneur floorplan. On a condensed, urban scale the formula is expressed in Parisian private houses, hôtels particuliers built entre cour et jardin, between court and garden. In these plans, the street front may be expressed as a range of buildings not unlike the ordinary houses that flank it, but with a grand arched, through which a carriage could pass into the cour d'honneur secreted behind.
In a cramped site, one of the flanking walls of the cour d'honneur may be no more than an architectural screen, balancing the wing of the hôtel opposite it, which would contain domestic offices and a stable. On a grander scale, the Palais Royal was laid out in just this manner, among the first Paris hôtels particuliers to have a cour d'honneur, which once was separated from the public street by a wrought iron grille by an open architectural screen, with its grand open jardin behind, now a public space. Nearby, the Tuileries Palace is gone: but the cour d'honneur with its Arc du Carrousel remains, as do the Tuileries Gardens behind the former palace's site. In densely built cities disposed on a rigorously democratic grid plan such as New York, private houses with a cour d'honneur were rare in the Gilded Age. In London, Burlington House retains its cour d'honneur, whereas the Buckingham Palace's is no longer extant, as it was remodeled to be enclosed on all 4 sides, thus becoming a quadrangle
Blois
Blois is a city and the capital of Loir-et-Cher department in central France, situated on the banks of the lower river Loire between Orléans and Tours. Though of ancient origin, Blois is first distinctly mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century, the city gained some notability in the 9th century, when it became the seat of a powerful countship known as Blesum castrum. In 1171, Blois was the site of a blood libel against its Jewish community that led to 31 Jews being burned to death, their martyrdom contributed to a prominent and durable school of poetry inspired by Christian persecution. In 1196, Count Louis granted privileges to the townsmen; the counts of the Châtillon line resided at Blois more than their predecessors, the oldest parts of the château were built by them. In 1429, Joan of Arc made Blois her base of operations for the relief of Orléans. Joan of Arc rode the thirty-five miles on Wednesday 29 April to Blois to relieve Orléans. After his captivity in England, Charles of Orléans in 1440 took up his residence in the château, where in 1462 his son, afterwards Louis XII, was born.
In the 16th century Blois was the resort of the French court. The Treaty of Blois, which temporarily halted the Italian Wars, was signed there in 1504–1505; the city's inhabitants included many Calvinists, in 1562 and 1567 it was the scene of struggles between them and the supporters of the Catholic Church. In 1576 and 1588 Henri III, king of France, chose Blois as the meeting-place of the States-General, in 1588 he brought about the murders of Henry, duke of Guise, his brother, archbishop of Reims and cardinal, in the Château, where their deaths were shortly followed by that of the queen-mother, Catherine de' Medici. From 1617 to 1619 Marie de' Medici, wife of King Henri IV, exiled from the court, lived at the château, soon afterwards given by King Louis XIII to his brother Gaston, Duke of Orléans, who lived there till his death in 1660; the bishopric, seated at Blois Cathedral, dates from the end of the 17th century. In 1814 Blois was for a short time the seat of the regency of Marie Louise, wife of Napoleon I.
Blois was occupied during World War II by the German army, which took the city on 18 June 1940. The city was liberated by American soldiers during the last two weeks of August 1944. On both occasions, the city withstood several days of bombing; the Château de Blois, a Renaissance château once occupied by King Louis XII, is located in the centre of the city, an 18th-century stone bridge spans the Loire. As Blois is built on a pair of steep hills and steep pathways run through the city, culminating in long staircases at various points. To the south of the city, the Forêt de Russy is a reminder of the thick woods that once covered the area. La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin is a museum fronting on the Château; as a museum of France, it is the only public museum in Europe which incorporates in one place collections of magic and a site for permanent performing arts, is directly reflects the personality of Robert-Houdin. The Gare de Blois railway station offers direct connections to Paris, Orléans, Tours and several regional destinations.
The A10 motorway connects Blois with Paris, Tours. Blois was the birthplace of: Thubois Stephen, King of England from 1135 to 1154. Louis XII, King of France from 1498 to 1515 Jean Morin and biblical scholar of Protestant parents Denis Papin, physicist and inventor Thomas de Mahy, Marquis de Favras, royalist Jean Marie Pardessus, lawyer Jacques Nicolas Augustin Thierry, historian Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin, magician René Guénon, philosopher, social critic, the founder of the Traditionalist School Philippe Ariès, medievalist and historian Albert Ronsin, 20th-century French scholar, historian and curator Philippe Gondet, footballer Claudine Doury, photographer Sonia Bompastor, female footballer Aly Cissokho, footballer of Senegalese descent Bernard Onanga Itoua footballer Nicolas Vogondy, cyclist Corentin Jean, footballer Fabrice Moireau, 21st-century French watercolourist and artist Blois is twinned with: Waldshut-Tiengen, since 30 June 1963 Weimar, since 18 February 1995 Lewes, United kingdom, since 30 June 1963 Sighişoara, since 18 November 1995 Urbino, since 1 May 2003 Huế, since 23 May 2007 Athos, the count of La Fère has a castle in Blois, in Twenty Years After, The Vicomte de Bragelonne.
Official website Documentary photography of Blois by "Sayf" Jewish Encyclopedia entry INSEE commune file
Rennes
Rennes is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the capital of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department. Rennes's history goes back more than 2,000 years, at a time when it was a small Gallic village named Condate. Together with Vannes and Nantes, it was one of the major cities of the ancient Duchy of Brittany. From the early sixteenth century until the French Revolution, Rennes was a parliamentary and garrison city of the historic province of Brittany of the Kingdom of France. Since the 1950s, Rennes has grown in importance through rural flight and its modern industrial development automotive; the city developed extensive building plans to accommodate upwards of 200,000 inhabitants. During the 1980s, Rennes became one of the main centres in telecommunication and high technology industry, it is now a significant digital innovation centre in France. In 2015, the city was the tenth largest in France, with a metropolitan area of about 720,000 inhabitants.
With more than 66,000 students in 2016, it is the eighth-largest university campus of France. The inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais in French. In 2018, L'Express named Rennes as "the most liveable city in France". Since 2015, Rennes is divided into 6 cantons: Canton of Rennes-1 Canton of Rennes-2 Canton of Rennes-3, which includes parts of Rennes but the commune of Chantepie Canton of Rennes-4 Canton of Rennes-5, which includes parts of Rennes but the commune of Saint-Jacques-de-la-Lande Canton of Rennes-6, which includes parts of Rennes but the commune of Pacé Rennes is divided into 12 quarters: Le Centre Thabor/Saint Hélier Bourg l'Évêque-Moulin du Comte Saint-Martin Maurepas-Patton-Bellangerais Jeanne d'Arc-Longs-Champs-Beaulieu Francisco Ferrer-Landry-Poterie Sud Gare Cleunay-Arsenal-Redon Villejean-Beauregard Le Blosne Bréquigny The current mayor of Rennes is Nathalie Appéré. A member of the Socialist Party, she replaced retiring Socialist incumbent Daniel Delaveau, in office from 2008 to 2014.
Edmond Hervé, Socialist mayor from 1977 to 2008. Among previous well-known mayors are: Jean Janvier, from 1908 to 1923; the mairie is right in the centre of Rennes. The French Prison Service operates the Centre pénitentiaire de Rennes, the largest women's prison in France; the ancient centre of the town is built on a hill, with the north side being more elevated than the south side. It is at the confluence of two rivers: the Vilaine. Rennes is located on 50 km from the English Channel. Rennes has the distinction of having a significant Green Belt around its ring road; this Green Belt is the rest of its urban area. Rennes features an oceanic climate. Precipitation in Rennes is less abundant than in the western parts of Brittany, reaching only half of the levels of, e.g. the city of Quimper, which makes rainfall in Rennes comparable to the levels of larger parts of western Germany. Sunshine hours range between 1,700 and 1,850 annually, about the amount of sunshine received by the city of Lausanne. In 2018, the inner population of the city was of 221,272 inhabitants, the Rennes intercommunal structure connecting Rennes with 42 nearby suburbs counted 450,593 inhabitants and the metropolitan area counted over 720,000 inhabitants.
Rennes has the second fastest-growing metropolitan area in France after Toulouse and before Montpellier and Nantes. The inhabitants of Rennes are called Rennais in French. Rennes is classified as a city of history; the historic centre is located on the former plan of the ramparts. There is a difference between the northern city centre and the southern city centre due to the 1720 fire, which destroyed most of the timber framed houses in the northern part of the city; the rebuilding was done on a grid plan. The southern part, the poorest at this time, was not rebuilt. Due to the presence of the parlement de Bretagne, many "hôtels particuliers" were built in the northern part, the richest in the 18th century. Most of the monuments historiques can be found there. Colourful traditional half-timbered houses are situated along the roads of Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Georges, de Saint-Malo, Saint-Guillaume, des Dames, du Chapitre, Saint-Michel, de la Psallette and around the plazas of Champ-Jacquet, des Lices, Saint-Anne and Rallier-du-Baty.
The Parlement de Bretagne is the most famous 17th century building in Rennes. It was rebuilt after a terrible fire in 1994 that may have been caused by a flare fired by a protester during a demonstration, it houses the Rennes Court of Appeal. The plaza around is built on the classical architecture. On the west, the Place de la Mairie: City Hall OperaOn the east, at the end of the Rue Saint-Georges with traditional half-timbered houses: 1920s Saint George Municipal Pool, with mosaics Saint George Palace, its gardenOn the south-east: Saint-Germain square Saint-Germain Church Saint-Germai
Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme
The Musée d’Art et d’Histoire du Judaïsme or mahJ is the largest French museum of Jewish art and history. It is located in the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan in the Marais district in Paris; the museum conveys the rich history and culture of Jews in Europe and North Africa from the Middle Ages to the 20th century. Its fine collection of religious objects, archives and works of art promotes the contributions of Jews to France and to the world in the arts; the museum's impressive collections include works of art from Amedeo Modigliani. The museum has a bookshop selling books on Jewish art and history and Judaica, a media library with an online catalogue accessible to the public, an auditorium which offers conferences, concerts and seminars, it provides guided weekly visits in English during the tourist season for individuals as well as students and teachers, workshops for children and adults. In 1985 Claude-Gérard Marcus, Victor Klagsbald, Alain Erlande-Brandenburg launched a project to create a museum of Jewish art and history in Paris, backed by the City of Paris and the ministry of Culture, represented by Jack Lang, Minister of Culture.
The project had two goals: first, to provide Paris with an ambitious museum dedicated to Judaism and second, to present national collections acquired from the reserves of the national museum of the Middle Ages. At the time, only a modest museum devoted to Judaism existed on the rue des Saules; the project was led by Laurence Sigal starting in 1988. The mayor of Paris at the time, Jacques Chirac, provided the Hotel de Saint-Aignan in the Marais as a site for the future museum; the Musée d’art et d’histoire du Judaïsme opened in 1998. The decision to set up the museum in the Marais was a conscious one. Since the end of the 18th century, a large population of Jews has lived in the Marais. At first, these were immigrants from Eastern Europe, from North Africa during decolonization. Today, the Marais has been profoundly transformed: traditional shops have been replaced by trendy designer boutiques. However, the neighborhood is a cultural center for museums such as the musée Carnavalet, the musée Picasso, the Mémorial de la Shoah.
The two architects in charge of redesigning the interior of the building, Catherine Bizouard and Francois Pin, not only crafted the areas for the permanent collections but created a media library, an auditorium, a bookshop, an area dedicated to educational workshops. The museum provides areas for temporary exhibitions, educational activities, research, making it a dynamic and innovative cultural venue; the museum's permanent collection was assembled from three main sources. The first is the Musée d’art juif de Paris, whose collection was given to the mahJ, it consisted of European religious objects, graphic works by Russian and German Jewish artists and artists from the School of Paris, architectural models of European synagogues destroyed by the Nazis. The second source is the Musée national du Moyen-Age in Paris, known as the musée Cluny; this collection was built up by a French Jew from the 19th century. He collected 149 religious objects during his travels throughout Europe, including furniture, ceremonial objects, Hebrew manuscripts.
A Holy Arch from Italy from the 15th century, wedding rings, illuminated ketubbot are examples of artefacts in his collection. Strauss in regarded as the first collector of Jewish objects. Part of his collection was displayed during the 1878 Exposition Universelle, provoking a strong interest. After his death, his collection was acquired by Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild in 1890, she gave it to the State to be donated to the Musée Cluny. Sixty six rare medieval funeral steles, discovered in 1894 rue Pierre-Sarrazin, are on a long-term loan from the musée Cluny; the third source is a set of long-term loans from museums such as le Centre Pompidou, the Musée d'Orsay, the Musée du Louvre, the Musée national des Arts d'Afrique et d'Océanie. The museum's collection was enriched by loans from the Consistory of Paris, the Jewish Museum in Prague and donations from the Fondation du Judaïsme français; the museum acquired a large photography collection. The collection has over 1500 photographs of Jewish communities from the past and present, of historical events, of Jewish architectural heritage.
At its creation, the museum outlined five missions that it seeks to fulfill: Present two thousand years of history of Jewish communities in France and contextualize them in the overall history of Judaism. Conserve, study and promote the museum's collection and documents relating to Jewish history and art. Make the collection as accessible as possible to a large public. Organize the diffusion of all forms of artistic expressions relating to Jewish culture in all its diversity. Create and execute educational operations and enterprises to promote Jewish culture; the mahJ chose a time period covering Jewish history from its beginnings in France until the birth of the State of Israel, without including the Holocaust. The project for the Mémorial de la Shoah, now located 800 yards from the museum existed when the mahJ was created, with the goal of commemorating the Holocaust; the mahJ and the Memorial complement each other. The museum explores Jewish history and identity without the memory of the Holocaust being the main element.
The Holocaust is such a singular and momentous event that it can overshadow the rich heritage of Judaism outside of it, deserves its own focused space. Furthermore, the museum favors a historical approach to Judaism
Hôtel de Beauvais
The Hôtel de Beauvais is a hôtel particulier, a kind of large townhouse of France, at 68 rue Francois-Miron, 4th arrondissement, Paris. Until 1865 rue Francois-Miron formed part of the historic rue Saint Antoine and as such was part of the ceremonial route into Paris from the east; the Hotel was built by the royal architect Antoine Le Pautre for Catherine Beauvais in 1657. It is an example of eclectic French baroque architecture. Catherine Beauvais was the first lady to Anne of Austria, was rumored to have provided Louis XIV with his first heterosexual experience. Favoured by the Queen regent, Catherine Beauvais was given gifts of money and expensive building materials, destined to be used in the extension of the Cour Carrée of the Louvre Palace; the Hôtel Beauvais was built over land that had belonged to Cistercian monks during the 13th century. All, left of their town house is the vaulted cellar, preserved in the basement of the 17th century building. On August 26, 1660 King Louis the XIV and his new wife Maria-Theresa made a triumphal entry into Paris, stopping at the Hotel de Beauvais to salute Beauvais, who stood on the protruding balcony that overlooked the street.
In 1763 the hotel came into possession of the Bavarian ambassador, who received a visit that year from Mr. Leopold Mozart, his wife, children, including Wolfgang, age seven. During the French Revolution the building was requisitioned by the state and sold to a private individual. In 1800 the building is divided up into 40 apartments; the building is changed and some parts are damaged or demolished. An extra floor is added between the first and second floors in order to create extra rental space; until 1987 the Hôtel is home to a variety of tenants including a school and, between 1941 and 1972, a private maternity clinic. During the Nazi occupation Jewish residents are moved out. In 1918, the building was damaged during shelling. In 1926 the Hôtel de Beauvais is listed as a historical monument because of its main entrance, the grand staircase and the facade overlooking the central courtyard; the entirety of the building isn't listed until 1966. In the early 20th century, the building was in danger of demolition as part of an effort to redevelop poor and insalubrious areas of the city.
The Marais and the areas around what is now the Pompidou Centre are targeted. However, due to the efforts of the Minister of Culture André Malraux and heritage activists, much of the Marais is restored during the late 20th century rather than demolished. Between 1967 and 1970 the medieval cellar is cleared and restored by the association Paris Historique; the restoration of the building was completed in 2003, today contains the administrative court of appeal of Paris and is inaccessible to the public except for the court public audiences. However, the historic parts of the building can be visited during European Heritage Days; the building can be visited once a month under the auspices of Paris Historique. The courtyard has been used as a theatre, notably during the Festival du Marais. Hôtel de Beauvais' façade is done in common to hôtel particuliers. Strict symmetry is created using false windows; the façade uses vertical bands of rusticated stone and horizontal moldings instead of orders to define major lines.
The building contains several unexpected elements for an hôtel particulier. Public shops are located along the ground level, which may be a continuation of an ancient Roman tradition; the mezzanine windows, which were uncommon in Paris, may have been a throwback to High Renaissance in Rome. In the plan, there are different paths for circulation for noblemen. Many unusual details of the plan: the corps de logis placed along the street with the cour d’honneur behind, the circular vestibule, the angled passage from the court to the rue de Jouy, the semicircular ending of the court, the stair at the left rear of the court, were the result of Le Pautre’s use of the foundations of the three medieval houses that occupied the lot. Le Pautre’s major triumph was in his treatment of the irregular site and the creation of a symmetrical façade. Architectural historians laud the building for its influence on the free plan. Plans Berger, Robert W. Antoine Le Pautre: A French Architect of the Era of Louis XIV.
New York: New York University Press, 1969. Hibbard, Howard; the Architecture of the Palazzo Borghese: Memoirs of the American Academy of Rome, XXVII. Rome: American Academy in Rome, 1962. Matthews, Hotel de Beauvais, Inc. 2008. Pitt, Leonard. Walks Through Lost Paris. Berkeley: Counterpoint LLC, 2006. Rowe and Koetter, Fred. Collage City. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 1978 Seigneur, M. Du. La Construction Moderne. 1886
Hôtel de Blossac
The Hôtel de Blossac is an 18th-century hôtel particulier in the historic center of Rennes, Brittany. The building, which has two main wings, was constructed in 1728; the architect is said to have been Jacques Gabriel. The building has a unique classical architecture for Brittany, including its size, the assembly of several architectural components, its grand staircase. Property of the La Bourdonnaye family, earls of Blossac, for nearly two centuries, it was leased by the city as the residence of the commander in chief of the province of Brittany, with a pomp reminiscent of the court of France. At the French Revolution, it was divided into apartments and became a residential building, where the author Paul Féval was born; the building was designated as a historic monument in 1947, underwent a complete exterior restoration spread over three decades, while the apartments give way to offices. It has been wholly owned by the state since 1982 and houses, in refurbished and restored rooms, the Direction régionale des affaires culturelles and in service quarters, the service territorial de l’architecture et du patrimoine.
The hôtel de Blossac is located in the northwest in the secteur sauvegardé of the historic city center. Its address and the main entrance, a porch, are at rue du Chapitre, it is surrounded on the rue Saint-Sauveur. Two doors, one condemned and the other for use by staff, are arranged in the garden wall; the western part is adjacent to other courses leading to deprivation. The hôtel garden offers views of Blossac the south side of the basilica of the Saint Sauveur, whereas since the floors of the hôtel it is possible to see, at the west, the nearby Rennes Cathedral; the hôtel de Blossac consists of a main body, from the streets of rue du Chapitre to rue Saint-Sauveur. This building is divided into two parts: the side yard on the north and the garden side yard on the south; the side garden has a perron and an elaborate façade, while the courtyard side is more austere, but contains, in the south, the grand staircase. Facing the courtyard are the old stables, with perpendicular, the gallery overlooking the garden.
On the back side of the body court is the court service, accessible through the passage of the staircase. It gives a windowless wall to the east, the hôtel de Brie in the south; this hôtel is older than the hôtel de Blossac, was reused in the building of the building. As the hotel is a public building, it is possible, during office hours, visiting the external and the staircase, including access to the documentation library; those outside are open to the European Heritage Days. The hôtel de Brie is, in 1720, a composition from several buildings parts of the prior petit Fontenay manor; the hôtel de Brie is itself built in 1624 on the rue du Chapitre by the family Loysel de Briz. This construction replaces wooden houses, for which it had to pass through to enter the petit Fontenay; this hôtel is allocated in 1692 at the residence of the intendant of the King in Brittany, this until 1725. The hôtel de Brie goes from Loysel de Brie family to the de Cahideuc family, who sell in exchange the building to Louis Gabriel de la Bourdonnaye of Blossac in 1727.
Its configuration is classical compared to others constructions in Rennes: two buildings separated by a courtyard, one of them overlooking the street. They still exist today. A passage under the house give access to the courtyard, both for cars and pedestrians, passing houses the staircase to the floor. One common gallery and service quarters link the two buildings on the east side of the court. Stables, east of service quarters complement the set. Apart from the wooden stables, Hôtel de Brie by its stone construction, thanks to the will of his owner not to build in wood, stop the burning of Rennes in 1720, protecting the western part of the city. Hôtel de Brie communicated with the adjoining house, so called the Psalette, on the Rue Saint-Sauveur through the petit Fontenay. Nowadays, it remains no trace of these passages, except for a construction in the service yard of the Psalette. Hôtel de Brie is the only white stone facade of the 16th century in Rennes; the hôtel de Blossac was built in 1728 on the initiative of Louis Gabriel Labourdonnaye, Earl of Blossac, President of the Parliament of Brittany, to make it his residence.
Jean-François Huguet supervise the construction. The construction is done on a bare area resulting from the Rennes fire in 1720 by taking the old Hotel de Brie in the west and enjoying the place left by the fire in the east; the new parcel is bounded by the street south of the Chapitre and the Saint-Sauveur to the north, while the limit on the street is becoming the rue de la Mitterie, traced in a straight line and called Montfort Street. The southeast corner is the only occupied by other buildings rebuilt in 1723 on style adopted for the new city; the plan prepared in 1722 by engineer Isaac Robelin in charge of rebuilding the city, leaving the family to a surface Labourdonnaye strangely arranged, which will start construction of the “Hôtel de La Bourdonnaye de Blossac” in 1728. The hôtel de Blossac will therefore occupy the entire width of the plot, vested in maximizing the potential of this surface: the main body separated into two distinct parts, rooms distributed in length; the distribution on the first floor is identical to the ground floor.
This separation may have been conceived from the start of constr
