The Shipowner’s House

The Shipowner's House

The Le Havre audio-guided tour brings you to the Shipowner's House, a house-museum that bears witness to Le Havre life in the 18th century. Through its rooms, it reveals the architecture, decoration and atmosphere of a former bourgeois residence of the great port.

The home of a wealthy merchant

The house retraces the life of Martin-Pierre Foache, a wealthy merchant who lived there from the late 18th to the early 19th century. He had his residence decorated by the talented Pierre-Adrien Paris, then draughtsman of the king's cabinet. Built in Caen stone, organised around a central light well, the house illustrates the economic dynamism of the port of Le Havre at that time.

What there is to see

Organised over several levels around its octagonal light well, the Shipowner's House unfolds rooms furnished and decorated in the taste of the 18th century. Furniture, art objects and paintings evoke the refined life of the great Le Havre merchants. It is one of the few testimonies of the luxurious pre-war housing, in the heart of the Saint-Francois district.

Practical information

The Shipowner's House is in the Saint-Francois district of Le Havre. The visit is ticketed and subject to hours that vary by season, generally from April to October. The museum is part of the city's art and history museums; it is best to check the information in advance.

What is the Shipowner's House ?

An 18th-century house-museum, the former home of the merchant Martin-Pierre Foache, which evokes the bourgeois life of the port of Le Havre.

What is remarkable about it ?

Its central octagonal light well and its rooms furnished in the taste of the 18th century, decorated by Pierre-Adrien Paris.