The Cat Mansion

The Maison du Chat, in La Rochelle

The Maison du Chat is a curious dwelling of a flamboyant red, at the corner of the Rue des Deux Moulins in La Rochelle, topped with a ceramic cat perched on its roof. The La Rochelle audio-guided tour stops here to evoke this house of 1926 in the neo-Norman style, that prettily stands out among the white stones of the town.

The red house with the ceramic cat

You have no doubt noticed it from afar: this pretty house has nothing to do with the other buildings of the town. Of a flamboyant red, it is called the Maison du Chat. It was built in 1926 by Maurice Morguet, in a neo-Norman style with apparent half-timbering and brick, that radically contrasts with the usual white stones of La Rochelle. This architectural fantasy, inherited from the picturesque taste of the beginning of the twentieth century for the regional styles and the seaside villas, makes all the originality of the house, that seems to have come from another region, or even from a tale. But the most charming detail, the one that earns it its name, is perched right at the top: a ceramic cat sits on the roof of the dwelling, as if it watched over the district. Take a step back and raise the eyes to spot it; the children love to go in search of it. This touch of humour and poetry has become a little emblem of the corner, near the Tower of the Chaîne and the ramparts. Beyond the anecdote, the Maison du Chat recalls that La Rochelle, despite the unity of its white stones, also conceals curiosities and architectural eccentricities that make the pleasure of strolling. You only have to raise the eyes to discover them. A picturesque house and a feline nod, the Maison du Chat is a fine stop of the discovery of La Rochelle.

What to see

You admire a curious house of a flamboyant red, built in 1926 by Maurice Morguet in a neo-Norman style with half-timbering, that contrasts with the white stones of La Rochelle; its most charming detail is a ceramic cat perched right at the top of its roof, that gave it its name and that you must raise the eyes to spot. The Maison du Chat is a curiosity of La Rochelle. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The Maison du Chat lies at the corner of the Rue des Deux Moulins, near the Tower of the Chaîne, in La Rochelle, reachable on foot. You admire its façade and the ceramic cat from the street; it is a dwelling that you observe from the outside. You discover it during a walk in the district of the ramparts.

Why is this house called the Maison du Chat in La Rochelle?

Because of the ceramic cat perched right at the top of its roof; this curious house of a flamboyant red, built in 1926 by Maurice Morguet in a neo-Norman style with half-timbering, contrasts with the white stones of La Rochelle, and you must raise the eyes to spot the feline that gave it its name.

Where is the Maison du Chat in La Rochelle?

At the corner of the Rue des Deux Moulins, near the Tower of the Chaîne, in La Rochelle, in France.