The sky is azure blue. The morning sun caresses the house which then shines brightly. The red bricks turn scarlet. The architectural ceramics that adorn the facade give the impression of lighting up. Blue, they are Mediterranean. Yellow, they shine all the more as they stand out against a sky-colored background. Green, they tint the overall picture with emerald. Lower down, at window height, diamonds – that's the name given to their shape – finish illuminating this house on the banks of the canal, in Villefranche-sur-Cher, in Loir-et-Cher.
In the middle of this kaleidoscope of brightly colored tiles, the old sign, entirely in ceramic as it should be, stands out more than ever: “Entrepôt des grands tuileries mechanics Perrusson fils & Desfontaines”.
This house is the flamboyant legacy of an activity at the confluence of industry and craftsmanship which was established on the banks of the Berry canal, at the time when barges sailed there and brought it to life. There, in Villefranche, at the turn of the 19the century and 20e century, they deposited architectural ceramics produced by the Perrusson company based in Saône-et-Loire. These joined the warehouses (1) of which we can still see traces a little further down the street. As for the residence, skillfully decorated with everything that Perrusson know-how was capable of, it served as a “catalogue house” for this company. In a way, the (sparkling) showroom of the time. Up to the toilet, in the garden, superbly covered with glazed tiles. Without a doubt the most beautiful toilets for miles around…
In a corner of the garden of the Perrusson “catalogue house” in Villefranche-sur-Cher, the most richly decorated toilets for dozens of kilometers around!
© (Photo NR, Pierre Calmeilles)
“Favorite”
Today the house is private. “My partner and I bought it in March 2020 out of love”comments its owner, Stéphane Baldeck. But you can walk past the house passing through rue Marcel-Géré: strolling through the neighborhood is worth a look as, throughout the street, you can find traces of Perrusson ceramics on many of the buildings. Then, to see the shimmering facade, simply join the Berry canal and follow it, on the town side.
We know (2) that the last barge circulated on the canal in 1947 and that it transported 43 tonnes of Perrusson products. Since the end of the First World War, the golden age of architectural ceramics had already passed. In Saône-et-Loire, the headquarters of the Perrusson company closed its doors in 1960, as did the Sancoins site, in Cher, on which the Villefranche-sur-Cher warehouse depended. What remains are the thousand colors of unique know-how.
(1) Another depot linked to this company was opened at the same time near Romorantin station, a few kilometers away.
(2) Thanks to the work of the Pays de la Vallée du Cher and Romorantinais.
Detail of the Perrusson catalog house in Villefranche-sur-Cher.
© (Photo NR, Pierre Calmeilles)
A story to reconstruct
Stéphane Baldeck examines the postcards showing the banks of the Berry canal in Villefranche-sur-Cher on several dates from the beginning of the century. You can most often see the Perrusson “catalogue house” dedicated to architectural ceramics.
He tries to reconstruct his story. On this plot, the land register gives evidence of a house from 1825. “The whole question is whether the walls [actuels] were built before the house became cataloged and its facade was decorated”he asks himself.
In the few notarized papers that he found, the purchase of the house by an executive of the Perrusson company, Pierre Jacquemard, appears.– who would become mayor of Villefranche – in 1919. This, even though the company had undoubtedly taken up residence there, more than twenty years previously. Jacquemard himself would have bought the house from a winegrower. How can we explain then that, on postcards from the very beginning of the 20 e
century, the company office already appears, still beautifully decorated today, in the garden of the house? It is one of the enigmas of the kaleidoscope house that the NR
was unable to shed light despite efforts to contact the existing Perrusson museum in Burgundy.
(1) Stéphane Baldeck and his partner bought the house, in 2020, from a descendant of Pierre Jacquemard.
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