Hôtel de Bernuy, Renaissance private mansion in Toulouse, France

The Hôtel de Bernuy stands at the corner of rue Léon-Gambetta and rue Joseph-Lakanal in Toulouse. Its street facade is grey and red brick, with a carved stone entrance framing a pointed arch and double doors bearing diamond patterns; six stone-mullioned windows sit above, and painted lettering reads "COLLÈGE PIERRE DE FERMAT". Behind it are a Gothic brick courtyard with a staircase tower and a Renaissance stone courtyard.

Jean de Bernuy, a woad merchant from Burgos, bought houses on the rue des Argentiers and had the first buildings raised in 1503 by the masons Guillaume and Jean Langlois. Aimeric Cayla built the Gothic courtyard and its tower from 1504, and Louis Privat added the Renaissance stone courtyard and its 13-metre facade between 1530 and 1536. In 1566 three Toulouse burghers bought the mansion and gave it to the city for a Jesuit college; since 1957 it has housed the public collège Pierre-de-Fermat.

The courtyard's name recalls the woad (pastel) trade that made Jean de Bernuy rich; his portrait medallions, shown holding scrolls, greet visitors at the entrance. The great arch's coffers are carved vertically rather than following the curve, a deliberate feat of the stonemason. Since 1957 the building has housed the public Collège Pierre-de-Fermat, whose name appears painted on the rue Léon-Gambetta facade.

The property now houses a school and is not openly accessible to visitors; tours must be arranged in advance through the Toulouse tourist office. It's best to contact them beforehand to check when visits can be scheduled.

The great arch of the Renaissance courtyard has coffers whose partitions and hanging roses run perfectly vertical instead of following the curve, a deliberate choice that made the stonemason's work far harder. The upper gallery windows carry Corinthian columns, a first in Toulouse, their design taken from an architecture treatise.