In Seine-Saint-Denis, this former farm once housed the founder of the Nobel Prize, before it was turned into a town hall.

In Seine-Saint-Denis, a former rural estate has led a remarkable life: a historic manor, Alfred Nobel’s residence in the 1880s, then the commune’s town hall from 1892 onward. Here’s the story!

In the Île-de-France region, hidden buildings with surprising histories await both locals and visitors. In Sevran, in Seine-Saint-Denis, the former town hall is one of them. Behind its restrained façade lies an old rural estate, the fief of Fayet, whose main house is tied to the modern era and is often dated to the 18th century in heritage inventories. This site has housed more than a farm and outbuildings: it once belonged to Alfred Nobel, the inventor and industrialist who would later become the namesake of the Nobel Prizes, before being purchased by the municipality to serve as the town hall.

Originally, the site wasn't a town hall but an ancient estate set in old Sevran. The fief du Fayet is documented as early as 1643. The site then comprised a manor house, a farm, and other buildings tied to rural life. When people today speak of Sevran's former town hall, they are not referring to a building sprung from the ground for municipal administration. They are talking about a place that belonged first to a rural landscape, in a commune whose roots run very deep. Sevran itself is attested from the Early Middle Ages, and the village had become the parish seat no later than the early 13th century.

Alfred Nobel bought the property in 1881. By 1882 he had set up an experimental laboratory there. His presence in Sevran is no accident: the development of the Sevran-Livry National Powder Works was among the reasons he chose to settle in the town in the 1880s. If the scientist’s name sounds familiar, you’re on the right track: this is indeed the man behind the creation of the famous Nobel Prize.

The municipality purchased the property on July 30, 1892 to house the town’s schools and the new town hall. It is also noted that the outbuildings and the barn were demolished in 1894, while the main building was preserved and repurposed to accommodate new public functions, a use that continued until 2015, when a new town hall was inaugurated.

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