With its sculptures of grimacing imps, the facade of the “Maison Henri II”, rue des Augustins, in La Rochelle, maintains its legend: that of a place haunted for centuries by mysterious specters said to be of royal blood .
This 16th century building is extraordinary since the “Maison Henri II” is not really a house! The two Renaissance galleries cheat with reality. They don't lead to anything. They are blind or ghostly, like a theater set. This facade without depth is therefore a monumental decoration, a sort of screen facade. The building was built around 1555 by Hugues Pontard, King's attorney. The latter died of the plague and his house was passed on to his son François Pontard who would be mayor of La Rochelle at the age of 27. Over the centuries, the house has been an inn, a finance office or even the headquarters of the City Corps…
There are 2 buildings on either side of this facade and one of them today houses the Intermondes center where artists and writers from the five continents are housed in residence all year round.
And in recent years, several testimonies from authors or artists received by Intermondes indicatebizarre experiences to say the least…
A cartoonist from Bombay, Hemant Morparia, heard walking above his room at night and felt a presence beside him as he drank a glass of milk. An Australian guest and a Chilean guitarist also heard these footsteps on the ceiling.
The nighttime scares of Hemant Morparia and his companions from around the world are not the first to be reported. And it seems that the spirit that haunts the place is of noble stock.
In the 19th century, some guests claimed to have seen members of the royal families parade above their bed during the night. And Henry II has nothing to do with it since the son of François I did not set foot in this building which only bears his name because of Henry's “H”s on the coffers of the gallery.
