The centuries-old house – “La Maison des Acrobates” – is listed as a historical monument. It is doubtless the oldest civil dwelling that still stands in the heart of Blois. It combines timber-framed architecture with expressive sculptures and subtle symbolism. Its remarkable facade of wooden beams with cob filler and brick is typical of the 15th century. There is a ground floor, two upstairs floors with corbelling and a third floor in the roof space. A spiral staircase links the levels together. Apart from the top floor, each level is taken up by a single room. On the ground floor, there is, on one side, a large front window – the token of a former shop here. And on the other side, there are two studded wooden entrance doors: one leads straight to the house and the other one leads to a corridor that takes you to the neighbouring house at the back. Small-paned casement windows, probably enlarged in the 18th or 19th century, bring natural light into the upstairs floors. On the third floor, two gabled dormers frame a hipped dormer, which is bigger, upon a slate roof. The back windows look out at the court of a neighbouring townhouse.

The house

The ground floor
You step into the only room on the ground floor, which has remained a shop. Hexagonal terracotta tiles cover the floor. A monumental fireplace stands against one of the walls with a plain entablature beneath several levels of elegant cornices, supported by built-in columns crowned with capitals. A corridor that leads to the neighbouring townhouse runs behind another wall. The staircase that takes you upstairs is absolutely remarkable. It is made entirely of wood and winds up around a central sculpted twist that serves as a handrail. The steps are made of wood all the way up to the third-floor landing. The walls are timber-framed with a filling of plaster or small bricks.

The first floor
A large room for everyday living takes up the whole floor area. Square terracotta tiles cover the floor. The interior walls are made of rubble stone and plastered, sometimes with plasterboards added. Like on the ground floor, an imposing beam supports the ceiling joists. Three windows – one double window and two single windows – look out at the square Place Saint-Louis, with an unrivalled view of the cathedral, the 18th-century facades opposite and a townhouse. There is a monumental stone fireplace with an entablature with mouldings, supported by thin columns crowned with capitals that are sculpted with foliage motifs and angel heads. An open-plan kitchen has been created behind a timber counter with mouldings.

The second floor
The second floor has a bedroom that takes up almost the whole floor area. Its has a wooden floor and timber-framed walls that are plastered or fitted with plasterboards. A 19th-century wooden fireplace was installed by the previous owners. There is a bathroom on one side of the stairwell, above the kitchen. And there is a walk-in wardrobe behind a half-length timber-framed partition wall, on the other side of the stairwell, above the reading room.

The third floor
The third floor has sloping attic ceilings. It is divided into three bedrooms and a bathroom. The corridor and one of the bedrooms have vinyl flooring. The largest bedroom has kept its wooden flooring and the smallest one has kept its floor of old terracotta tiles. The bathroom is tiled. The plastered walls are painted. Two bedrooms look out at the square Place Saint-Louis. The third one looks out at the back.

The basement
You reach the cellar via stone stairs beneath a trapdoor. The vaulted cellar extends beneath the whole edifice, even reaching vertical alignment with the corbelling of the upper floors. Two stone pillars support archways, which are also made of stone. An old cavity in the floor suggests that there was once a second level in this cellar.