Villa Marguerite Yourcenar
Villa Marguerite Yourcenar is a small museum in Saint-Jans-Cappel dedicated to the life and work of writer Marguerite Yourcenar. The house contains three rooms filled with manuscripts, documents, photographs, and personal objects that tell the story of her life and creative practice.
The house was converted into a museum in the 1980s after Louis Sonneville conceived the idea to honor Yourcenar by sending her flower bulbs and soil from her childhood home. The museum opened in 1985 and Yourcenar visited in 1986, validating the importance of the project.
The name honors writer Marguerite Yourcenar, whose childhood memories of this area shaped her creative life. The house demonstrates how deeply rooted she felt to this rural landscape and how those connections informed her literary work.
The museum is open from March to November on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays and requires booking at least three days in advance by email. The building is accessible for visitors with mobility needs, a small gift shop offers souvenirs, and staff speak multiple languages.
The museum emerged from a personal exchange in which Louis Sonneville sent Yourcenar soil and flower bulbs from her childhood region, sparking an emotional connection that led to the project. This unusual origin story shows how a tangible link to the writer's homeland remains at the heart of what the museum represents today.
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