Sponsorship from Pinault Collection for the renovation of Hauteville House Hauteville House
The challenge facing the campaign of renovation now underway is to rediscover all the poetry that Victor Hugo put into his decoration of this extraordinary house and to recapture its original visual splendour.
Museum
Hauteville House on the island of Guernsey is owned by the City of Paris and managed by Paris Musées, which also curates Victor Hugo's other emblematic residence, in the Place des Vosges in Paris. The writer's family donated Victor Hugo's house in Guernsey to the City of Paris in 1927. Victor Hugo and his family lived there in exile for nearly 15 years, from 1856 to 1870. Those decisive years played a major role in forging Victor Hugo's political character and strengthening his image as a committed, Republican writer who was a fierce opponent of the Second Empire. He wrote some of his greatest masterpieces there, including Les Misérables, Toilers of the Sea, The Man Who Laughs, La Légende des siècles (The Legend of the Ages), and Quatrevingt-treize (Ninety-Three). Hauteville House is uniquely imbued with the spirit of the great poet's life.
Rarely has a house ever been so much a part of the writer who lived there as Hauteville House was with Victor Hugo. It became a symbol of his uncompromising political commitment during his exile, as well as being the place where he wrote some of his most important works. With all the decorations, which he designed and carried out himself, it too was an expression of his creative genius, a projection of his poetic spirit and vivid imagination. But time and the elements have taken their toll on some of his décor as well as on the materials, and particularly the textiles in the house.
The challenge facing the campaign of renovation now underway is to rediscover all the poetry that Victor Hugo put into his decoration of this extraordinary house, and to recapture its original visual splendour. The first stage was an in-depth historical study of Hugo's own decorations. The restoration was then safeguarded by essential work on the walls and roof. This was a prelude to restoring the decor that runs around the entire space, and bringing out, for all to see once again, the imaginative boldness of Victor Hugo's collages of materials and his assemblages of objects, orchestrated with the same intensity as he brought to the images in his poems.
Hauteville House is open from April to September. It is visited by more than 20,000 visitors every year. The renovations will also make it possible to upgrade the public facilities and improve the comfort of the visit. This major sponsorship accounts for €3 million out of a total estimated operating cost of €3.6 million. The restoration is also financed by Paris Musées, as well as by the Fondation du Patrimoine as part of a crowdfunding operation launched from March 2017 to March 2018, which raised nearly 54,000 euros in individual donations. This public subscription was supplemented by the Ile-de-France delegation of the Fondation du Patrimoine to the tune of 25,000 euros.
Renovation work began in April 2018. Hauteville House is scheduled to reopen in April 2019.