Emile Zola, once famous, had taken refuge in a small house in the countryside, in Médan near Paris, from 1878 until his disappearance in 1902.
A peaceful village
Emile Zola loved Médan, a small town in the Paris region. To escape the hustle and bustle of Paris and write in peace, the famous 19th century writer bought a country house in this peaceful village in the Ile-de-France department of Yvelines in 1878. A real estate investment made possible thanks to the literary success of L’assommoir (1877). He then had this country residence enlarged by two wings, with the gains obtained by Nana (1880) then Germinal.
The leader of naturalism
The writer Emile Zola is considered the leader of naturalism. He is one of the most popular novelists in the world. His novels have been particularly adapted for film and television. The last years of his life were marked by his involvement in the Dreyfus affair in 1898. Emile Zola acquired this house in Médan in May 1878 thanks to the success of L’Assommoir, a “modest rural asylum”. The writer will make the place a vast domain where he will live an ideal rural life with his vegetable garden, his farm, his greenhouses…
not a day without a line
In 1888, the property of Zola is completed. It symbolizes his success in the world of letters, the fortune acquired by hard work. His house remains the place of his work because he wants to be faithful to his motto : not a day without a line. However, he likes to receive his friends and relatives there. By going to the Maison Emile Zola you will find the furniture and decor designed by the writer himself. A leap into the past ! You will thus be able to enter the dining room, the billiard room with its astonishing symbolist stained glass windows, but also the study with its imposing fireplace. You will also be able to take an interest in the photos taken by Emile Zola himself using one of his 8 cameras, the caricatures published in the newspapers, the posters of films adapted from the works of the writer… The Writer’s House has received many personalities such as Cézanne, the childhood friend, Manet, Pissaro, Goncourt, the Daudets, Huysmans… It is here that the artist will create all his masterpieces !
26 Rue Pasteur,
78670 Medan
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