The Closerie des Poiriers, typical Mayenne peasant house of the eighteenth century, will be open to the public from 14:30 to 19:00, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September 2022, on the occasion of the European Heritage Days. Visitors will be able to discover the dwelling house under the same roof, the common room, the room, the stable and the room where René COTTEREAU died, brother of Jean CHOUAN and last survivor of the family decimated by the Revolution. In the lodge, transformed into a museum, panels retracing the local history of this time develop many explanations and anecdotes. Outside, the well, the oven and the box of the sabotier will also be to discover. A film retracing the life of Jean COTTEREAU - said Jean CHOUAN -, will be screened. The volunteers of the Association of Friends of the Museum will be at the disposal of visitors to guide them in their discovery of the place.
Transformed into a museum, the closerie des Poiriers in Saint-Ouën-des-Toits, where Jean Chouan and his family lived, has been open to the public since 1989. This modest house is today one of the few examples of Mayenne peasant housing to have preserved its original appearance. Its chestnut shingle roof, restored by Jacques Boufflet, architect of the buildings of France, has restored the building its typical cachet of the eighteenth century. Arranged under the same roof, the common room, the room, the stable, the room where René died - the last survivor of the family decimated by the Revolution - were restored according to the customs of the time and bring to this house an essential note of life. This historic place, with its outbuildings, the lodge transformed into a museum, the well and the bread oven form an exceptional whole. Near Laval, the Jean Chouan museum, in its rural setting, offers visitors an unusual approach to the peasant world of yesteryear.