Villa Bonnabel

Villa Bonnabel stands on avenue du Général-Leclerc in Nancy, a short walk from the Jean-Marie Pelt Botanical Garden, and ranks among the city's most distinctive Art Deco residences.

Who commissioned the villa, and when was it built?

Architect Paul Reynal Thiébaut designed the house in the late 1920s for Félix Bonnabel, director of Biscuiterie Lorraine, a biscuit-making company based on rue du Montet in Nancy. The building still carries his name, even though it has long since stopped serving as a private family home.

Is it an Art Nouveau building, like most of Nancy's famous architecture?

No — that's a common assumption worth correcting. Nancy is internationally known for the École de Nancy and its flowing, plant-inspired Art Nouveau facades, but Villa Bonnabel belongs to a different, slightly later movement: Art Deco. Its street- and garden-facing walls are built from finely cut stone carved with geometric ornament, simplified floral motifs, and crisp linear divisions rather than the sinuous curves associated with the earlier school.

What are the standout architectural details?

The building's protected features cluster around its entrance hall and staircase: stained-glass windows signed by Georges Janin, one of the notable glassmakers of the period, and wrought-ironwork by Jules Cayette. Together they earned the villa its listing as a historic monument on October 13, 1987, a protection that covers the facades, the roofs, and the ground-floor interior decor, including the stained glass itself.

Can visitors go inside?

Villa Bonnabel is privately owned, so there is no public tour of the interior. Visitors can admire the facades and garden from the street along avenue du Général-Leclerc. The one way to actually experience the protected hall and staircase is that part of the building is occasionally rented out as a holiday apartment, giving overnight guests a rare look at the Janin windows up close.

How far is it from central Nancy?

The villa sits in a quiet residential stretch of the city, roughly 4 kilometers from Place Stanislas and considerably closer — about 2.7 kilometers — to the Jean-Marie Pelt Botanical Garden. It works well as a stop for travelers who have already covered the grand central squares and want to see a lesser-known side of Nancy's interwar residential architecture.

Frequently asked questions

Is Villa Bonnabel an Art Nouveau landmark? No. Despite Nancy's strong Art Nouveau reputation through the École de Nancy, this villa was built later in the Art Deco style, favoring geometric ornament over Art Nouveau's organic curves.

Who was Félix Bonnabel? He directed Biscuiterie Lorraine, a Nancy biscuit maker on rue du Montet, and commissioned the villa in the late 1920s as his residence.

What exactly is protected under the historic monument listing? The October 13, 1987 decree protects the street and garden facades, the roofs, and the ground-floor interior decoration, specifically naming Georges Janin's stained glass and Jules Cayette's ironwork.

Can the interior be visited? Not through a regular public tour, since it's a private property. The only practical option is booking the apartment occasionally offered there as holiday accommodation, which gives access to the protected hall and staircase.