Hôtel de la Bertaudière, 17th-century private mansion in Saint-Malo, France

The Hôtel de la Bertaudière stands at no. 2 Rue du Chat-qui-Danse in Saint-Malo. Its pale beige rendered facade is framed by grey stone quoins, with three rows of red-framed windows with white grid panes and a steep dark slate roof holding three red-framed dormer windows. A grey stone chimney with white painted lines rises on the left. A curved portal opens onto a small inner courtyard.

Claude Crosnier, sieur de la Bertaudière, built the mansion in 1649, as the curved portal opening onto the small inner courtyard records. It stands on what remained of Château Gaillard, the fortress begun in 1394 under Charles VI to guard Saint-Malo from the seaward side, and the old materials were reused in its construction. It was inscribed as a monument historique on 14 February 1946.

The house is probably the birthplace of corsair Robert Surcouf, the Saint-Malo privateer who harried British shipping in the Indian Ocean around 1800. The arched portal opening onto the small inner courtyard carries the date 1649, the year Claude Crosnier, sieur de la Bertaudière, built the mansion.

The private property can be viewed from the street as you walk through the historical quarter. Visitors should plan to observe it as part of a broader exploration of the old town rather than as an isolated stop.

The building incorporates stones from Château Gaillard, a fortress ordered by King Charles VI in the 14th century to defend the coastal town. This reuse of older stone was both a practical and economical choice when constructing new properties in the area.