Maison 56 boulevard du Président-Carnot

The Art Nouveau house at 56 boulevard du Président-Carnot, also known as Maison Pinètre, sits in the heart of Agen and ranks among the town's most striking examples of early twentieth-century residential architecture.

What exactly is this building?

It is a privately owned house built between 1896 and 1902 along one of Agen's main boulevards, in the Lot-et-Garonne department. Visitors strolling past notice the flowing lines of the façade, its asymmetrical window openings, and the floral ornamentation typical of the Art Nouveau movement. The house is not a museum and its interior is not open to the public, but the street-facing façade can be admired freely and fits naturally into a walking tour of Agen's Art Nouveau heritage.

Who designed it, and why does that matter?

The house was designed jointly by architects Éphraïm Pinètre and Édouard Payen. Payen's name carries weight locally: he belonged to a well-established Agen architectural dynasty and was the son of Léopold Payen, an architect already active in the city a generation earlier. Pinètre, by contrast, remains an obscure figure about whom little biographical information survives. Their partnership went beyond this single address — the same pair also designed houses further along the same boulevard, at numbers 87 and 104, suggesting a shared architectural signature running through that stretch of Agen.

Why does this house stand out for visitors?

Agen is more commonly associated with its dried plums and its medieval old town, so the presence of a small cluster of Art Nouveau buildings can come as a surprise. Around 1900, the style spread outward from Paris and Nancy into provincial French towns, and boulevard du Président-Carnot became one of the places where that influence took hold. Because several related houses stand within walking distance of one another, the boulevard offers a compact, self-guided introduction to the style without needing to travel to a larger city. Number 56 in particular is noted for the richness of its façade decoration and for window joinery that has survived in good condition.

Where exactly is it located?

The house stands on boulevard du Président-Carnot, in central Agen, close to the other houses attributed to the same architects. Its approximate coordinates are 44.2028 N, 0.6207 E, placing it in an easily reachable spot that can be worked into a short walk through the town centre.

Frequently asked questions

Can visitors go inside the house? No. It is a private residence, and like most Art Nouveau houses in Agen, it can only be viewed from the street.

Who built this house? It was designed by architects Éphraïm Pinètre and Édouard Payen, who were active in Agen around the turn of the twentieth century.

Are there other houses by the same architects nearby? Yes — the same pair also designed the houses at numbers 87 and 104 on the same boulevard, making it a good short route for spotting local Art Nouveau work.

When was the house built? Construction dates to between 1896 and 1902, during the height of the Art Nouveau movement in France.