Originality has often been the characteristic of auctions at the Château de Lasserre, in Montastruc-la-Conseillère, north of Toulouse. But this time, it seems that its owner and auctioneer has taken another step in this register. The sale he announces on April 16 will be out of the ordinary: it is quite simply the huge 18th century stone entrance door to the Necker hospital. Not the photo of the door of the famous establishment, nor its reproduction, no, it is indeed the entire door, a work of more than 150 tons which has just arrived at the castle. This delivery was made thanks to several heavy goods vehicles which transported the work in spare parts: “We will have the task of reassembling all this, flat, as soon as the weather is a little cold, with the help of a company This is about preserving a heritage that was about to disappear”, confides the auctioneer on the spot.

Destruction narrowly stopped

Stanislas Machoïr recalls in passing a small page of history: “It begins with the house of the Child Jesus founded at the beginning of the 18th century by the priest of Saint-Sulpice thanks to Queen Marie Leszczynska. Named royal house in 1751, it is reserved to the destitute and close to the Benedictine convent of Notre Dame de Liesse. Louis XVI will take his name from Necker in 1802. It will be the first pediatric hospital in the world.”
As for the oldest door, dating from the early 18th century and sold in Lasserre, it had been stored in 2009 after the dismantling of the Hotel Texier in the hospital grounds where it was to undergo, at the end of last year. , according to the auctioneer “the same fate as him. Everything had been crushed! A vigilant art lover acquired it and approached us. A real race against time then began as soon as we visited at the end of November on site, rue de Sèvres. And, on December 8, five semi-trailers left with this architectural monument saved from its complete destruction scheduled for December 15 during the new improvement works of the hospital”, explains the commissioner- auctioneer.
This magnificent piece of architecture is therefore just waiting to be revived in a context where it could become a centerpiece: “it could find a place in a very modern house or in the heart of a beautiful old property” adds Stanislas-Machoïr proud of to have at home, for some time yet, this door which would have seen the queens Marie Leszczynska, Marie-Antoinette, but also Louis XVI and the great doctors of this world pass through.