Hôtel de la Teyssonnière

Hôtel de la Teyssonnière is a historic private mansion at 23 rue Bourgmayer in Bourg-en-Bresse, one of the best-preserved examples of the town's centuries-old bourgeois residences.

What is this building exactly?

Known in earlier times as Hôtel de la Gabelle, the mansion took its current name from the de La Teyssonnière family, its long-time owners. The structure itself is a patchwork of two eras: a 16th-century core later reworked and extended in the 18th century, a layering that is still visible in the building's facade and floor plan. In 1947 the property entered France's official register of historic monuments, a listing that specifically protects the grand staircase and the 16th-century entrance door — the two features most often singled out as the finest surviving traces of the house's original design.

Who is connected to this address?

The mansion's most notable resident was Charles Agricole Nestor de La Teyssonnière, born within its walls on September 1, 1777. After training at the Royal Military College in Auxerre, he entered the Central School of Public Works, the institution that would later evolve into the École Polytechnique in Paris. His career took him into hydrographic engineering, where he contributed to laying out and building the Canal de l'Ourcq, the waterway that helped supply Paris with drinking water. Beyond his engineering work, he is also credited with founding a pleasure park that still carries the family name today. He died in the same house where he was born, on December 19, 1845, closing a life spent almost entirely at this one address.

Can visitors go inside?

No — the Hôtel de la Teyssonnière remains private property and is not open to the public. Visitors can still appreciate it from the street: the facade and the 16th-century doorway are visible while walking through the old town of Bourg-en-Bresse, which is enough to take in the scale and detail of the building without stepping past the entrance.

Why does it matter for someone exploring Bourg-en-Bresse?

The building works well as one stop on a short heritage walk through the town center, where several comparable 16th-to-18th-century mansions have survived. For anyone curious about local history, it also offers a rare case where the official monument listing and the biography of the person born and buried within the same walls line up neatly — an engineer whose work on the Ourcq canal reached far beyond this quiet street in Bourg-en-Bresse.

Najczęstsze pytania / Frequently asked questions

Can you visit the inside of Hôtel de la Teyssonnière? No, it is a private residence and not accessible to visitors — only the exterior facade and entrance can be viewed from the street.

Where does the building's name come from? From the de La Teyssonnière family, who owned it; the mansion was previously known as Hôtel de la Gabelle.

What parts of the building are officially protected? The 1947 historic monument listing covers mainly the grand staircase and the 16th-century entrance door, while the overall structure combines 16th- and 18th-century work.

Who was the most famous person born there? Charles Agricole Nestor de La Teyssonnière, a hydrographic engineer who worked on the Canal de l'Ourcq, born in the house in 1777 and died there in 1845.