HAUTEVILLE HOUSE (VICTOR HUGO'S EXILE HOUSE)

After 18 months of extensive renovations, Hauteville House reopened in April 2019. To get your bearings, a French flag marks the large white house located on the heights of the city. The Paris City Council is responsible for the conservation of the site, attached to the mansion on the Place des Vosges in Paris.

After his departure from Paris following the coup d'état of Louis Napoleon Bonaparte (future Napoleon III), the writer chose to go to the islands to remain close to France. After a stay in Jersey, he was forced to leave the island. His presence was indeed considered undesirable after he had defended a journalist who had strongly criticized the visit of Queen Victoria to Napoleon III. When he arrived in Guernsey, he bought this house in 1856 and stayed there until 1870. It was here that Victor Hugo wrote Les Travailleurs de la mer, dedicated to the inhabitants of Guernsey, La Légende des siècles and L'Homme qui rit. He also completed Les Misérables here. The decoration of the house is the work of the writer. It is based on contrast and organized abundance. Fascinated by second-hand goods and driven by an overflowing imagination, he decorated Hauteville House with Delft earthenware, chinoiseries, antique chests, mirrors, tapestries, oriental embroideries..

The first floor - the vestibule. It is very dark and the atmosphere is heavy. The hallway is divided into two parts and has many carved oak panels. Some of the scenes depicted are taken from his novel Notre-Dame de Paris.

The billiard room. At the time of the departure of his sons, Charles and François-Victor, he used it as a storeroom. On the walls hang copies of family paintings, the originals of which are in Paris, as well as drawings by the poet.

The tapestry room. Walls and ceilings are decorated with tapestries from Gobelins and Aubusson. A huge sideboard is fixed on the fireplace in Delft earthenware with blue and white decoration. The adjoining smoking room is decorated in the same way. The decoration is conceived from elements found by the poet, who designed the projects and entrusted the realization to the cabinetmaker Mauger.

The dining room. A large fireplace covered with earthenware bears the initials of Victor Hugo and HH. Between the two windows is the ancestor's chair, intended for the spirits. It bears the Latin inscription Absentus Advent (the absent are present).

Second floor. The red salon faces the blue salon. Victor Hugo liked to believe that every object in this room had belonged to royal personages, although there is no proof of this. In a play of contrasts and a theatrical atmosphere, the two monumental fireplaces face each other. A winter garden overlooking the blue salon allowed Hugo to observe the French coast when the weather was clear.

Second floor. The oak gallery. The chandeliers and woodwork were designed by Hugo. In the center of the room stands the fire tree. Hugo stored his manuscripts and papers here. The room is called "Garibaldi's room". Victor Hugo had invited his Italian colleague to join him, but he never came.

Third floor. Victor Hugo had installed his apartments in the attic. The look-out, from which he dominated the city, served as his study. The decoration is much more sober and on a human scale.

The garden is finally very pleasant, with its fountain and its camellias in particular.