Jean-Bertrand Fontorbe, from maritime engineering to private buildings

PLuckily, when she settled in Saintes in the house of the architect Victor Fontorbe (1815-1875), Marie-Hélène Perfect did not throw away the plans she found in the attic. Better yet, she took them out of the boxes and became passionate about understanding them. In addition to the documents signed by the man who was architect of the city and district of Saintes from 1842 to 1875 (1), she discovered plans and sketches of the latter’s father, Jean-Bertrand Fontorbe. And because they concerned Rochefort where the man worked and where the son was born, this lady had the good idea to send the bundles to the City. Six years ago, the tour guide Frédéric Chasseboeuf closely studied all these architectural plates which allow another reading of Rochefort. Which no one knew until then.

Here, several buildings were attributed to Brossard, Lavoine or Quentin, but to Jean-Bertrand Fontorbe, nay. It was then that the widow of Victor Fontorbe’s great-grandson, Marie-Hélène Perfect, arrived! She made it known that if Victor Fontorbe, the son, had weighed in Saintes, Jean-Bertrand, the father (second half of the 19th^e century-1836), was an architect based in town who had worked in Rochefort.

Trained on the job

After having been an arpète for his father, Victor worked for Jean Burguet, architect of the Saint-André hospital in Bordeaux; then at the Leclère workshop in Paris; before entering the Fine Arts. Conversely, Father Jean-Bertrand trained on the job. Initially, he worked in maritime engineering and had more of a construction role. He was the general contractor for the port’s maritime works and even received the decoration of the Lys in 1816. But he knew how to draw perfectly, he learned watercolors and he used a line draw.

He works for the Navy which doesn’t choose just anyone. So Fontorbe cannot be a simple constructor

It is undoubtedly his two hats, manual and artistic, which will allow him to climb the ladder to become a respected architect. “He works for the Navy, which doesn’t choose just anyone. He chaired the works commission and lived in Rochefort with Félix Garde (1779-1853), a recognized city architect who had a network as far as Paris. So Fontorbe cannot be a simple builder,” explains Frédéric Chasseboeuf, lifting the veil on the Fontorbe mystery.

In 1816, Jean-Bertrand bought his house at 90, rue Saint-Pierre (current rue Pierre-Loti). Was it because of a reversal of fortune between 1820 and 1822 that the builder began to draw plans? In any case, in his neighborhood, he began transforming houses for his neighbors.

A neoclassical style

So at 84 and 86 rue Saint-Pierre, but also at 101, 94, 98, 110, 117. Or even rue de la République at 48, 50, 63, 88 among others. He partly reconstructs buildings which combine homes and warehouses, often for wealthy merchants. Above all, he redid the facade in a neoclassical style with bosses, pilasters, pediments, balconies and geometric railings, half-oculi, laurels and circles carved in the stone. It adds a floor. It redistributes the interior.

“The collaboration with Marie-Hélène Perfect was valuable because private architects usually do not transmit their archives. From now on, we know which buildings correspond to the plans she sent us. And these documents allow us to very certainly attribute other houses to Fontorbe, about which we knew nothing until then, so much so that they take up his compositional elements,” rejoices Frédéric Chasseboeuf.

Despite a short career, Jean-Bertrand Fontorbe, a second-rate and certainly provincial architect, had an essential role in the architecture of Rochefort in the 19th century.^e century. It was time for this to be known.

Thanks to Frédéric Chasseboeuf, tour guide from the City’s heritage department.

(1) In addition, in 1844, he was also appointed architect of the districts of Rochefort, Marennes, Saint-Jean-d’Angély and Jonzac.

Bio express

1785: Birth in Orléans.
1810: Arrives in Rochefort where, as in Sables-d’Olonne before, he works in maritime engineering. Employed at the port, he handles orders for sand and stone.
1815: Marriage with the daughter of a pharmacist from Marine, who will give him two sons, including Victor who will be architect of the City of Saintes.
1823: Death of his wife.
1827: While being a contractor for the Navy, he became a builder and architect in the civilian sector. We find his first plans.
1830: He becomes municipal councilor of Rochefort.
1836: Death.