Maison des Têtes, Gothic private mansion in central Valence, France

Maison des Têtes is a mansion at 57 Grande Rue in old Valence, built between 1528 and 1532 for Antoine de Dorne. Four wings enclose a square courtyard, and the street facade mixes Flamboyant Gothic curves with Italian Renaissance medallions: nine busts at ground level, four chubby heads of the Winds, and half-size statues of Fortune and Time flanking the first-floor openings.

Antoine de Dorne, a law professor at the University of Valence and consul, built the house between 1528 and 1532, reportedly after a trip to Italy. His son François, a counselor at the Parlement du Dauphiné, inherited it in 1551; by the late 16th century it passed by marriage to Barthélémy de Marquet, who finished the decoration. Confiscated in 1794 during the Terror, it was sold as national property to Madeleine Vernet, widow of the bookseller Pierre Aurel. Classified as a monument historique in 1944, it was bought by the city of Valence in 1980.

The name comes from the heads carved on the building, the last of which are the four Church Fathers — Augustine, Gregory the Great, Jerome and Ambrose of Milan — on a door of the vaulted gallery off the courtyard. The street facade shows the Winds, Fortune and Time, while the corridor carries busts of Roman emperors and ancient philosophers. The house now holds Valence's Maison du Patrimoine (CIAP).

The site is centrally located and easy to reach on foot when moving around downtown Valence. Visitors can explore exhibitions about the town's history and join guided tours to learn more about the architecture and its details.

The house originally had three ornamental doors leading to the garden, with one now kept in Valence's museum. This preserved door shows the craftsmanship and artistic details that builders incorporated into every element of the home.