The House

The house is located in Nîmes, at 3 rue de Bernis in the historic heart of the city. Unlike the many mansions in the centre of Nîmes that have been transformed or divided, the Bernis hotel remained intact, still inhabited by the same family, the Pierre de Bernis family.

At the beginning of the 17^th century, the family undertook major works to restructure the mediaeval residence, around the creation of a square courtyard of classical architecture. It is inspired by the motifs and decorations of the Roman monuments of the city of Nîmes.
In the courtyard, the facades are listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historical Monuments. They have a base level in support of a noble part upstairs.

The lower part defines a space of services and equipment. Surmounted by an imposing entablement, it is composed of arcades whose patterns and proportions take up those that can be observed on the arenas.

The floor is the place of residence and reception. It opens onto the courtyard through eight large windows crowned with alternating pediments. This arrangement is largely inspired by the one that decorates the temple of Diana located in the fountain gardens.

The facades also include the attics whose openings punctuate the upper parts with four elliptical windows. The whole is crowned by a cornice forming a gutter connected to corner gutters, which were once gargoyles. Two of these gargoyles are still visible, they are the traces of the mediaeval period of the house. The decor of the cornice is composed of floral modillons. He is the faithful replica of the one on the square house.

The apartments on the noble floor are now inhabited. The typology in a row and the decorations have preserved the characteristics of the eighteenth century.