# Hôtel de Bourrouilhan A historic residence in the Landes - **Place**: Saint-Sever - **Address**: 21 rue du Général Lamarque, 40500 Saint-Sever · Landes - **Period**: XVIᵉ–XVIIIᵉ siècles - **Type**: Private mansion - **Protection**: Registered historic monument - **Mérimée record**: PA40000095 - **Coordinates**: 43.758, -0.5718 A private mansion built on the medieval ramparts of Saint-Sever. Five centuries of history, in the midst of a revival. ## History - **XVe siècle — The medieval fortifications** Here stand the ramparts of Saint-Sever, with a defensive tower. The mansion would one day rise upon them. - **Fin XVe – début XVIe — A town house** The first main dwelling range rises from the ground: the heart of the house, still standing today. - **XVIe siècle — A first extension** The house grows: a second dwelling range and a timber gallery link it to the ramparts. - **XVIIIe siècle — The restructuring along the rampart** The mansion extends along the entire rampart. Its name, "Bourrouilhan", appears in 1779. - **XIXe – XXe siècle — The long slumber… then the awakening** Almost nothing changes for 150 years. In 2015, the restoration begins. ## Figures - **Général Lamarque · 1770 – 1832 · Hero of the First Empire** Jean Maximilien Lamarque, an Imperial general born in Saint-Sever, distinguished himself in the Napoleonic campaigns before becoming a political figure of the liberal opposition under the Restoration. On his returns to Saint-Sever, he would stay at the hôtel de Bourrouilhan, with his first cousins. The street that runs alongside the building today bears his name. ## Places - **Roof framework · "The forest reborn"** The great roof space, weakened by a termite attack and broken beamwork, has undergone a complete restoration: the rafter-and-truss roof and the roofing "à la guise de France" have regained their original span. New timber mingles with the surviving old pieces, the forest, little by little, is reborn in the framework. - **Staircase · "The light returns"** Set within a projecting tower, the stone spiral staircase has served the upper floor and the attics since the early 16th century. Its stone treads, terracotta floors and rendering have been restored; the reopening of the tower once again lets light into the stairwell. - **Side wing · "Grandeur regained"** Set against the rampart, the second main dwelling range, extended by its timber gallery, links the mansion to the remains of the town wall. Floors, timber floors and terracotta paving have been restored to give these spaces, intended for visitors, their former spaciousness. - **Façades & stone dressing · "Out of shadow into light"** Mullioned windows, dressed-stone cross windows and the gable façade have been uncovered and restored in keeping with the evidence. The work of the stonemasons gives the facing stone back its original legibility: the building steps out of the shadows. ## Key facts - **1 000** old books lie sleeping in its library. - **25** tenant farms and caveries once belonged to the residence. - **8e** rebirth in its history: this is the one it is living through today. ## Links - Full page: https://opusheritage.com/en/villes/saint-sever/hotel-de-bourrouilhan - Town: https://opusheritage.com/en/villes/saint-sever - Reference: https://www.pop.culture.gouv.fr/notice/merimee/PA40000095 - Reference: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q65747025 --- Source: OPUS Heritage, https://opusheritage.com/en/villes/saint-sever/hotel-de-bourrouilhan. Content published by the town of Saint-Sever.