Joseph Meyer, Maison aux allures de château / Castle-like house

view from the street 

In my post of April 23, 2011 Visiting some environments in Northern France with Laurent Jacquy this castle-like house constructed by Joseph Meyer (1916-1989) has been briefly mentioned.

The following post has somewhat more information and it has pictures of the structures at the backside of the house which hitherto were not available on the internet.

constructions at the backside of the house 

this picture and the next ones (2013) 

courtesy of Rita and Pieter van den Boogaart

Life and works

Joseph Meyer was wounded when in military service during World War II. He lost a leg and a number of fingers.

He wanted to show that notwithstanding his disability he was able to carry out something big.

another view of the backside

So from around 1950 till around 1960 Meyer has been active in transforming his house -located in an ordinary suburb of a French seaside resort- into a castle-like structure, a building with two high rising towers, one at the streetside and one at the backside.

The staircase on above picture leads to a tower room of 27 m² (291 sq ft) that in summer can be rented as a holiday apartment.

detailed view of the decorations 

of the backside tower

On the frontside the house has another tower, this one slightly more modest than the one at the rear, but nicely decorated and equipped with a small watch tower at its flank. 

The inner court at the front side is separated from the street by a crenelated and decorated wall, that also has some niches.

inner court at the frontside 

with tower and part of the outside wall

As can be seen on the first picture the exterior wall has two gates. of which the left one has a pediment topped with a shield, which has an inscription that reads KIA MATE TOA, Live and die like a man, the motto of soldiers from Southland, New Zealand, who fought in Gallipoli in the First World War.

The house was sold in 2002. The new owners have kept Joseph Meyer's creations alive and deserve praise for the good care they take of this art environment.

Documentation

* Article about the site by Sonia Terhzaz, reporting visits she paid in September 2020 and January 2023 

Joseph Meyer
Maison aux allures de chateau
152 rue Émile Lavezzari
Berck-Plage, dept Pas de Calais, region Hauts-de-France, France
no visits, can be seen from the street