The mansion is characteristic of edifices built in the wake of the First World War by renowned architects like Marcel Griffon. It lies on the site of a former sugar factory, created by the Dellisse-Engrand family in Béthune in 1818. This was one of the first sugar factories in France. A commemorative plaque in tribute to Victor Amédée Dellisse, a civil engineer, member of parliament and politician honoured by Napoleon III, is still displayed on the edifice’s facade. The dwelling is crowned with a hipped mansard roof. The mansion, made of ashlar, is typical of 1920s neo-classical architecture. It is embellished with wrought-iron balcony balustrades with motifs, fine mouldings and sculpted cornices with a wealth of details. The building has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. It is hidden behind an electric wrought-iron gate and it stands in tree-dotted grounds. These walled grounds cover 2,000m². The brick walls here date back to the time of the military engineer Vauban and were built upon the ruins of a 16th-century Franciscan monastery: Les Récollets. Indeed, opposite the mansion’s facade there are the remaining columns and arches of a former church, which was listed as a historical monument in 1973. Part of the church’s central nave remains. A driveway with a cluster of flowers and shrubs in the middle makes it easy for cars to enter and leave the property.

The mansion

From the courtyard, you enter the mansion via an arched doorway with a glazed fanlight. The edifice has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. A flight of steps leads up to an avant-corps. Balconies adorn the main elevation, which displays pleasant symmetry and is punctuated with arched French windows with elegant wrought-iron guardrails. Beside the entrance, an extension was built by the current owner to house a kitchen and scullery. The mansion offers a total floor area of 1,000m². It includes several sumptuous reception rooms and many bedrooms.

The ground floor
When you enter the mansion through the main entrance door, you step into a sumptuous reception room: the Salon Mahaut d’Artois. This octagonal rotunda has a ceiling with mouldings and garland motifs. It is punctuated with pilasters between pale marble. The room features a fireplace of pink-veined marble. This remarkable reception room is bathed in natural light from tall, glazed doors. It connects to two other reception rooms: the Salon Philippe II and the Salon Charles Quint. These two high-ceilinged spaces together offer a 100m² floor area. Several walls are lined with wooden panelling and refined chinoiserie, inspired by exotic 18th-century reception rooms and the fashionable decor of aristocratic homes. On the street side, a glazed door leads into a lobby with a floor of cement tiles with colourful geometric patterns. This lobby is a secondary entrance hall. On one side, it connects to a music room, the Salon George VI. And on the other side, it connects to the reception rooms Salon Philippe II and Salon Charles Quint, where large French windows offer views of the grounds and the ruins of the old monastery. At the end of the lobby, a monumental marble staircase leads upstairs. These stairs are edged with a finely crafted wrought-iron balustrade with elegant motifs. A stained-glass window looks down at this staircase. This stained-glass window was created by the artist Georges Depienne, who helped restore churches that were damaged in northern France during the First World War, under the supervision of the famous architect Louis Cordonnier, who designed Lille opera house. The ground floor is completed with a lavatory with a decorated ceiling, a lift that takes you upstairs, and a 66m² kitchen with storage spaces, a strongroom and a door that leads out to the grounds.

The first floor
A landing and a corridor connect to six themed reception rooms. Each room has an emblematic name and unique decor. Among them, there is the large Salon Catherine de Médicis, which has walls of pink Venetian stucco and an imposing Louis XV fireplace. French windows lead out from this reception room onto a garden-facing balcony in the avant-corps. Another reception room, the Salon Napoléon Bonaparte, stands out for its red wooden panelling and white marble fireplace. There are two other reception rooms, the Salon Bourvil and the Salon Alexandre le Grand, on this floor too. And at the end of the central corridor, there is another reception room, the Salon Fernandel, which is divided into two sections and offers a 50m² floor area. It is more modern in style. It has exposed beams and brick walls. Wood strip flooring extends across all the first-floor rooms. There is also a lavatory on this floor.

The second floor
You can only reach the second floor via a lift, which is separate from the main house. This floor was designed by the current owner to host people with reduced mobility. An external fire escape staircase, with access for people with reduced mobility, has also been made for this floor. The windows have triple glazing. And with the heating system with reversible air conditioning, you can optimise the temperature in all the rooms. The floor is divided into two apartments. Each apartment offers a 100m² floor area. The first apartment is a former loft in the roof space, converted into a family dwelling with oak flooring. It includes a lounge with a Louis XV fireplace made of pink-mottled marble, a bespoke open-plan kitchen that can be adapted to people with reduced mobility, three bedrooms, a bathroom, a shower room and a lavatory. The second apartment is a two-level dwelling with a mezzanine. It includes a gallery that you can reach via an oak staircase, two bedrooms with roof windows, an open-plan kitchen beside a lounge with a Louis XVI marble fireplace, and a shower room with walls of African black porphyry. The taps are made of gold.