Hôtel de Mauroy, Renaissance private mansion housing a tool museum in Troyes, France

The Hôtel de Mauroy is a Renaissance mansion at 7 rue de la Trinité in Troyes. Its facade has a steep red tiled roof with three dormer windows under triangular wooden gables. The upper storey is red and dark brick with a band of diamond patterning and three tall stone-framed windows; the lighter stone ground floor has a central wooden double door and round-arched openings, with small lanterns on the stone posts between the arches.

Built around 1550 on land abandoned after the great fire of 1524, the house was made a private mansion by Jean de Mauroy, lord of Colasverdey, controller of taxes and alderman of Troyes. He and his wife Louise de Pleur asked by will that it become an orphanage; the orphanage of the Trinité took in children from 1582, teaching them to knit stockings, and its chapel was inaugurated in 1584 by Claude de Baufremont. Spared sale during the Revolution as a charitable foundation, it passed to the hospitals, and in the 19th century was sold and used as a public ballroom, tavern, drapery workshop, military office and newspaper office. The city bought it in 1966.

The mansion now houses the Maison de l'Outil et de la Pensée Ouvrière, a museum dedicated to hand tools and craftsmanship. The collection tells the story of how workers used their tools across different trades and time periods.

The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, with varying hours depending on the season. Visitors should check specific timing in advance, as access may be limited at certain times or require special arrangements.

The museum's collection was assembled by the Compagnons du Devoir, the journeymen's guild that restored the mansion after the city of Troyes bought it in 1966. It is housed in the former orphanage of the Trinité, where children were taught to knit stockings from 1582.