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All France Moulins Mantin House

Mantin House

French Time Capsule-19th Century home revealed to the public.

Moulins, France

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Anna
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  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Mantin
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison_Mantin
Louis Mantin   Public Domain
  http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-2019-tra...
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Mantin House   Xavixavir / Atlas Obscura User
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About

Louis Mantin, a French aesthete “obsessed with death and the passage of time,” wrote in his will that he wanted to turn his home into a museum after his death. He made a very specific and seemingly odd request, though: the museum would open 100 years after his passing.

After inheriting a large fortune from his father, Mantin, a bachelor with no children, started collecting objects obsessively – Egyptian relics, medieval locks and keys, monkey skulls, and stuffed blowfish. Having inherited the money later in life, Mantin knew that his time with his newly acquired collection would be short. The solution, he thought, was to turn his home into a museum, so people would know how an artistic gentleman had lived at the turn of the century.

Mantin died in 1905, and though he made it very clear in his will what he wanted the house to be in 100 years, he didn’t specify what he wanted to be done with the house in the time in between. The house eventually fell into disrepair, locked up and ignored, with worms and mold settling in among his statues and elaborate wallpaper. The house was finally re-opened as a museum in 2010, after a distant relative discovered his will and initiated an extensive renovation project. Townspeople and travelers can now marvel at this once hidden world, untouched for a century, admiring Mantin’s eclectic collections as well as his flushing toilet and heated floors, true luxuries for any home back in 1905.

Related Tags

Museums And Collections Architectural Oddities Eccentric Homes Time Capsule Architecture Homes

Know Before You Go

Route : RN7, RN9
Train : Gare de MOULINS-SUR-ALLIER
Autobus : Lignes 2 et 3 (arrêt "Palais de Justice")

Community Contributors

Added By

acclarkey

Edited By

littlebrumble, Rachel, Xavixavir

  • littlebrumble
  • Rachel
  • Xavixavir

Published

March 25, 2012

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Sources
  • http://musee-anne-de-beaujeu.cg03.fr/infoprat.htm
  • BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12214885
  • http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/02/pictures/110209-maison-mantin-french-time-capsule-mansion/#/french-time-capsule-mansion-maison-mantin-stuffed-blowfish_32090_600x450.jpg
  • http://www.whatsonningbo.com/news-2019-trapped-on-will-louis-mantin-reveals-maison-mantin-in-moulins-france-a-centaury-on.html
Mantin House
1, Avenue Victor Hugo
BP 1669
Moulins, 03000
France
46.568059, 3.334417
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