Although most people probably never heard of the place, it was once one of the wealthiest towns in the world. 80% of the planet’s wool was processed here.
In the 1850’s a relative of the previous owners of our house called Pierre Houles perfected a method called delainage: “separating wool from sheep skins: fellmongery. This led to the economic and financial miracle that shaped Mazamet over the next hundred years.” It was the first time wool could be separated from hides and both were left in perfect condition.
This meant that a small town with a population of only 10,000 experienced an extraordinary boom. Our street, for example, which is part of the town tour, is mansion, after mansion, after mansion. Most with unusual architecture which is explained by the very international nature of the town at the time these homes were built. The industrialists did a lot of business with most of Europe, Australia (in fact there’s a There is Rue de Australie, Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney), Wales and various South American- countries which obviously influenced their tastes.
Most of the houses on our side of the street (left) belonged to the same family. If you count relations by marriage, we could say most houses in the town belonged to the same family.
The story of our street begins with a wool industrialist named Edouard Vidal who buys the grounds of the Chateau de la Sagne in the 1850’s from the Olombel family. We found a map drawing in the attic which, well, maps out Mr. Vidal’s 356 properties in the 19th century.
He then builds the house which is today the Cathar Museum of Mazamet. The place was passed down to the Fuzier family by marriage and so it’s now called Maison Fuzier.
A few years go by and his children and grandchildren all build houses on the same street. If my memory is correct, the second house the Vidal’s built was in the 1860’s. It’s the one right next door to us which is known today as Maison Vialars:
Shortly afterwards, Edouard Vidal built the other neoclassical house on the street. It looks suspiciously similar to ours, although their entrance hall is at the side and it’s a rectangular floorplan only two windows deep whereas ours is more of a square.
The suspicious similarity was no accident. Our house was built for Genevieve Vidal, the granddaughter of the owners of the white neoclassical.
Our house is hidden from passersby
Anyway, Genevieve married a French-American called Robert Stanton and they built our place in 1927. He was the son of Theodore Stanton, hence grandson of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, the 19th century feminist (main author of the Declaration of Rights and Sentiments)- and of the abolitionist Henry Brewster Stanton. Theodore was a journalist who worked in Paris, but the family had wool interests, thus their connection to Mazamet.
…And that’s what I know because of all the paperwork the Stanton’s left behind. I should probably organize it all and donate it to the local museum at some point.
That’s a neighbourhood with a rich history
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-picks jaw off floor- Before you donate all that history – write the story of the house and its environs! Did you know all this wonderful stuff before you bought the house? Can’t believe how lucky you’ve been. Or perhaps fate is balancing out the bad years. 🙂
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I’ll definitely record it all first! I knew a bit of the wool history- but I didn’t know how big a role the family we were buying the house from had played in it.
I’m going with fate balancing things out and a good bit of luck on top 🙂
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lol – in a glass half full world the balancing is well overdue!
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Thomas Jefferson reportedly said that luck was a funny thing: The harder he worked, the more he had of it. I expect you earned your luck, E. Very well done, that!
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I, too, am in aMAZEMEnT. 🙂
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I guess that whole town truly and deeply hates Australia, after we stole away their wool market 🙂
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I’m not sure- Australia is often mentioned but at the same time they seem incredibly receptive to foreigners. Mike was afraid people would be stand-offish because he’s British and actually it’s been quite the opposite. I think the forced cultural mix of the boom years had a very positive effect on the local mindset that still exists today. It’s a small town with a big city attitude.
No one has even blinked at the fact we’re a gay couple, or outsiders, or in an age gap relationship. The day after we arrived an elderly woman who lives across the street came by to say that anything we needed at any time we could just knock on her door.
To be honest I’ve never experienced this degree of gratuitous kindness anywhere.
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Savour it! Civility should be cherished.
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Great read.
And your house is two years older than mine!
Although yours is a lot ”posher”.
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I just did a quick Wiki search of Mazamet for a bit more geography and to fill out your history and found it forms part of the Castres- Mazamet metropolitan area.
I visited this area twice and stayed in the nearby commune of Labrugiere when I was a teenager on a student exchange program.
Funny old world is it not?
🙂
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The world is very, very small 🙂
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I love the degree of privacy the walls and trees afford you.even n though as a pedestrian I’d enjoy the frontage of these properties. I’m delighted to hear of the neighbourliness and how could anyone not welcome Mike with his heritage from Wales?
Hugs to both.
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I’m surprised your house is so new. I guess thinking Palladian I was assuming older, but the bathrooms should have given me a slight clue.
How lovely to have the history of the house and the town. Eighty per cent of the wool? I’m finding that hard to believe coming from the prime wool mill factory area in the UK, incl cashmere. So, where are the factories/mills?
Must find a link to a friend’s former (victorian) house, his family had a pretty classy mill.
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There you go. Somewhat daggy interior taste and red!! front door, but 30 years ago it wasn’t too bad.
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How awesome to have all that history in your hands.
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Is the Vidal family related to Gore Vidal?
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Oh, dear: I was confusing names and meant Vidal Sassoon, completely different. My brain connected the name “Vidal” with the thought of wool being sheep hair.
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Hi,
happy to see your blog. Some info on the houses : older house is the one on the right of your photo “from righ to left..”. Then “maison Vialars” was the house of Genevieve Vidal-Robert Stanton (then sold to Mr Vialars, doctor, when they died). The following house (on the “rue de Strasbourg”, that i understand to be yours) was the house of Yvonne Vidal, the sister of Genevieve Vidal. Yvonne married Mr. Hine (from the family of the famous Hine cognac).
Hope you all happiness in this very nice house !
Eric Stanton
(i spent my youth in these houses, Genevieve Vidal was my grand’mother)
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Hi, Eric
How interesting! So are you a cousin of Patricia’s? When we arrived there was still a little sign on the door that said M & Mme C. Stanton. I think Claude and Nicole?
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Yes i am a cousin of Patricia. You are right, after the death of Yvonne Vidal-Hine, house was taken by Claude (son of Genevieve Vidal-Stanton) & Nicole, inhabited till the death of Nicole, last of the Vidal-Stanton’s family in Mazamet
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We bought the house just a few months after Nicole died. Patricia was really lovely & helpful to us. Her brother on the other hand… 🙂
Do you by any chance have any pictures of the house in your childhood? We asked Patricia but she said she didn’t really keep anything like that. We’ve been trying to (as much as possible) re-create the original decoration.
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I have searched for photos in my boxes but i did’nt find any taken inside, except 4 of a christmas dinner in 1981 ! They show essentially people, with only very small details on wall laying and curtains, that anyway i think did’nt change through the years.
Anyway if you wish you can send me your email and i will send these pics.
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I’d love to see them! My email is pink.agendist@yahoo.com
Thanks so much!
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