Maison Noir-Anney

Maison Noir-Anney is a historic town house standing in the centre of Gray, a small town in the Haute-Saône department of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. The building went up in 1875, at a time when Gray was thriving as a bourgeois river port on the Saône. Since 5 September 1988 it has been listed as a French historic monument (inscrit au titre des monuments historiques), reference PA00102184.

What will you see?

Maison Noir-Anney remains privately owned, so the interior is not open for casual visits — the building is best appreciated from the street while strolling through Gray's old centre. Heritage protection covers a specific set of features: a terraced garden with steps and railings, an outbuilding attached to the property, and a first-floor apartment made up of an entrance hall, a large drawing room, a smaller drawing room and a dining room. These rooms still hold their original decorative fittings — mouldings, wood panelling and joinery details typical of a well-off bourgeois household in the second half of the 19th century.

The layout itself — grand reception rooms upstairs, a terraced garden tucked behind the façade — is a good illustration of how a wealthy merchant family lived in a prosperous provincial town of the period. Gray was then an important river port on the Saône, and houses like this one were built as a visible mark of their owners' status and taste.

How to get there?

Gray sits in the Haute-Saône department, roughly 40 minutes by car from Besançon and just under an hour from Dijon. Regional trains (TER) connect Gray to both cities, with the station a short walk from the historic centre. The house stands within the old town, so the easiest approach is to park near the riverside on the Saône and continue on foot — a walk through central Gray takes in not only Maison Noir-Anney but also other town houses from the same era and the river embankment itself.

When to visit?

Spring and summer are the best seasons for Gray, when longer days make it pleasant to walk along the Saône and through the old streets, and local cafés and restaurants are in full swing. Since Maison Noir-Anney is viewed mainly from the outside, the season has little bearing on the visit itself — but it's worth avoiding the wettest winter weeks if a longer walk through the old town is on the agenda.

Frequently asked questions

Can you visit the inside of Maison Noir-Anney? No — the building is privately owned and not open to the public. It can only be admired from outside while walking through central Gray.

Why is the building protected as a historic monument? Protection covers specific elements: the terraced garden with steps and railings, the outbuilding, and the first-floor apartment with its original decorative fittings (entrance hall, drawing rooms, dining room).

When was the house built? It was built in 1875, in the second half of the 19th century.

Since when has it been a listed monument? It was added to the French register of historic monuments on 5 September 1988, under reference PA00102184.