HOUSE VARLETTE

This residence, listed as "remarkable heritage", is distinguished by its massive architecture in the former colonial district of France, which is classified by UNESCO. Built in 1918 by a great merchant of Bassam, it has undergone many transformations over time. Rectangular in plan, it is one of the largest merchant's houses in the city, particularly imposing with its four facades of identical regularity. The first floor, once devoted to commercial facilities, is surrounded by a portico with arched arches protecting the access to the former stores and warehouses. In the courtyard and garden, the kitchen and service areas were once located. On the first floor, where the living quarters were located, a gallery with arches that double the rhythm of the first floor runs all around the building. This construction is distinguished by its massive volume and the simplicity of its lines; the regularity of the arcades on the ground and first floors gives the overall architecture a remarkable balance. The Varlet house, seriously damaged by time, is located almost opposite the Ganamet house, with which it seems to be engaged in a disenchanted struggle to know which of the two will be carried longer by its crumbling and tired structures before falling into dust. Given the dilapidated state of the whole, it is obviously not visited for obvious security reasons.