If you're a literary buff, you may have a book in your library by Maison Hetzel, a 19th-century publishing house renowned for its superb editions of Jules Verne 's Voyages extraordinaires, as well as Victor Hugo, Balzac and George Sand.
Founded in 1840 by Pierres-Jules Hetzel, the company was taken over by his son Louis-Jules, with whom he worked for many years, until the father's death.
In 1914, he sold the publishing house to Hachette, allowing the Collection Hetzel name to remain on certain reprints for a time. But the story of this family adventure still lies somewhere in the Hauts-de-Seine... In the 1840s, Pierres-Jules Hetzel rented a house in Bellevue, a stone's throw from the capital, for a quieter atmosphere.
The family acquired a large, charming country house, now located in the heights of Sèvres, which was much larger than it appeared from the outside. He had it enlarged by his friend Viollet-le-Duc, who built a staircase tower (which has now lost its spire).
The house, on the outskirts of Sèvres, used to be situated on the hillside towards the royal road to Versailles, but now it's the RN118 that overlooks the property a few meters further on. A building that has kept its soul despite a few changes along the way, full of nooks and crannies, a veritable little labyrinth, bordered by a pretty sloping garden, a century-old wisteria and remarkable trees, making it a pleasant place to live.
Virginie Laffon now runs the house and lives in it, maintaining the library, of which there are still several hundred books in good condition, but the building is falling into disrepair and, according to her, the town hall is"blocking the sale of part of the garden, which would have made it possible to obtain money to carry out work", and thus restore the place, which is part of the Ile-de-France heritage like many of the houses of illustrious people in the Paris region.
According to the fundraising campaign,"the Sèvres town council is planning to buy it with a view to building a housing estate", which is what Virginie and her fellow volunteers from the Friends of the Maison Hetzel association - Catherine, Gleb, Théo and Nathalie - are fighting against. The latter have developed a passion for the place, helping Virginie to promote it in an attempt to restore it.
For the merry band is looking for funds or patrons to enable the place to survive and buy out the remaining members of the undivided ownership. If the money is eventually raised, Virginie would like to open the library and garden to the public and propose a small museum or literary café, with artistic and literary gatherings, enabling the family legacy to survive the test of time.
Today, in the meantime, the team organizes activities in the house, including concerts, screenings or spiritual retreat days with yoga and meditation, keep an eye on their Instagram account to find out about future events and discover the place, which is well worth continuing the journey for longer!
Location
Hetzel House
2 Rue Emmanuel Giraud
92310 Sevres
Official website
www.instagram.com
