Hôtel d'Aoust

Built around 1712, the Hôtel d'Aoust was the winter residence of the d'Aoust family, who owned the castle and lands of Cuincy. The d’Aoust family were a wealthy Douai family, originally from Normandy, who arrived in the city around 1475 following a double marriage, when the two brothers Jacques and Eustache d'Aoust married the two Audefroy sisters, Catherine and Madeleine, residents of Douai. After the Revolution, the hotel had several owners. It was occupied by the Germans during the 1914-1918 war. It was bought in 1946 by the Charbonnages de France and became the headquarters of the HBNPC. In 1947, it was listed as an Historic Monument. It was acquired by Douai Town Hall, which restored it before handing it over to the Council of State, which installed the Administrative Court of Appeal there. This renovation was a real success as the building was awarded a Ruban du Patrimoine award.

The Hôtel d'Aoust is a private mansion known as ‘sur cour’, its monumental gate on the street opens onto a horseshoe-shaped cour d'Honneur, lined with semi-circular buildings and closed at the back by a splendid stone and brick mansion with wings in return. The central part is surmounted by a triangular pediment and is decorated with four caryatids symbolising the four seasons:

Winter: the night with the owl.
Spring: the sheaf with the vegetation.
Summer: the angel with the sun.
Autumn: the dog or the lion with the hunt.

The interior facades are decorated with white stone lintels and spandrels carved with classical rocaille motifs: shells, beans, acanthus leaves, and garlands of flowers.

The materials used are characteristic of 18th century architecture in Douai: paving and base in local sandstone, salmon-red brick facades, white stone, natural slate, wooden joinery.

Show less