The mansion "Hôtel d'Espie" in Toulouse .
- Franck BRUGUIERE
- Aug 6
- 3 min read
Updated: Sep 27
INTRODUCTION :
It is the legacy of the woad trade, which brought about our city's golden age in the 16 th. century.
Its construction was made possible by the succession of many wealthy families.
Today, it houses the Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Toulouse.
The history of the private mansion in Toulouse, The story of a succession of several families :
In 1750, the Count of Espie, whose father had made a great fortune in Portugal, bought the dilapidated "Aussargues private mansion" and set about building the current mansion based on the plans by " Labat de Saviganc" .
Unfortunately, due to the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the count lost his entire fortune and had to sell the private mansion to the "Marquis de Chalvet Sénéchal" of Toulouse, who completed its construction !!!.
"Monsieur de Chavelet" also experienced misfortune due to his passion for painting and the construction of the " Château de Merville", a residence promised to his beloved.
At this death in 1772, his son was forced to sell the townhouse.
The buyer was an Irishman, "Count Justin Mac Carthy Môr", a direct descendant of the kings of southern Ireland !!! .
It was in the mid-19th.century "Franck Courtois de Viçose " purchased. the mansion from the heirs of "Justin Mac Carthy".
He belonged to an old Toulouse family whose name appears eight times in the city's capitular records and four times in the Parliament.
The architecure of the private mansion " Espie" in Toulouse :
This private mansion is remarkable.
The Count of Espie, for the construction of this mansion, replaced the ceiling with flat brick vault cemented with plaster.
For the attic, the aim was to replace the roof frames with a series of partitions perpendicular to the facade wall !!! .
On the street side, the private house has no monumental façade.
In the middle of a large wall, a tall carriage entrance, simply adorned with a heavily bearded head, opens at an angle to facilitate the entry of carriages into the main courtyard.
The entrance is a semicircular space, and opposite it, at the back of the courtyard, stands a tall façade with pediments.
Though narrow, it has five windows are so tall that the upper cornice of the first floor reaches the height of a typical two storey house.
What particularly draws attention in this courtyard is the section of the rear façade crowned by the pediment.
There are three windows on the ground floor and the same number on the first floor, behind which are the main rooms of the private mansion.
The windows are framed by pilasters with ionic capitals adorned with garlands on the ground floor, and Corinthian capitals on the first floor.
Above each window is a sculpted decorative element.
Within these tall openings, the woodwork forms an elegant lattice with small panes.
The lateral projecting sections are simple, yet a dignified appearance.
CONCLUSION/TO GO FURTHER :
Justin count of Mac Carthy, had a strong taste for sciences and letters, and at the end of the 18th. century, he built one of the finest private libraries in Europe within his private mansion.
His collection is remarkable for the choice of works, the rarity of editions, and the perfect condition of the buildings.
This library contained around a thousand books, many of them unique or vey rare editions.
Moreover, the magnificent copy of The Life of the Virgin, the only one of its kind in the world was part of the library's collection.
It consisted on 1§ leaves printed on one side only, with woodcut illustrations and explanatory sentences printed in movable type !!! .
That's all for today my friends.
I'm glad to have introduced you to this remarkable private mansion in Toulouse.
Welcome in Toulouse.
The blog from Toulouse.
Greetings, Franck.
Address : 3, rue Mage 31 000 Toulouse.
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