Odd News

The bricks used to build the Suresnes-Longchamp train station were manufactured at the Bel Air brickworks—Jovenet establishments located on Boulevard de Versailles (now Boulevard Henri Sellier).

Henri Sellier was born on December 22 in Bourges. There is an error on his identity card. Can you spot it ?

Do you recognize Franklin Roosevelt Avenue with City Hall in the background?  A beautiful stone and brick building stands on the right : this is the entrance to the concierge’s office of fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth’s property. Now missing its right side, this “Snail Gate” offers passersby a number of sculpted symbols: the head of Hercules above the carriage entrance, a caduceus, a winged fist, and of course snails on its metal grille and on either side of its pediment.

This sterilizer used at the municipal dispensary was invented by Dr. Poupinel in 1885. It treats medical instruments and syringes using dry heat, that is the reason why it looks like an oven !

Although there are no subjects of Her Majesty in the English village, Suresnes has been twinned since 1962 with Hackney, a town in East London. This partnership, which grew out of exchanges between workers from Suresnes and Puteaux with those from Keighley, is considered to be the oldest Franco-English twinning in history !

These three men are pulling a barge through the Suresnes lock with their bare hands. To see the entire scene, created in 1912 by Henry Brémond, head to the staircase of the Town Hall or the MUS collections !

Each pier of the 1901 bridge is topped by a majestic candelabra. On its base, three griffins sculpted by Emmanuel Frémiet hold a shield decorated with the initials SL for Saint Leufroy, patron saint of Suresnes. Below, a large coat of arms bears the insignia of the City of Paris, which helped finance the widening of the structure.

This cast iron object has two parts that can be brought together: it is a mold for perfume bottles into which molten glass is blown, sticking to the sides. It enables the industrial production of crystal bottles decorated with patterns.

On the site of the current Domaine des Hocquettes stood Villa Léa, a beautiful property built around 1860. Its owner, Auguste Marc, editor of the newspaper L’Illustration, had a mosque-shaped outbuilding and a tower with breathtaking views of Paris built there.

This is the first block of the garden city of Suresnes as imagined by Alexandre Maistrasse in 1919. Located between Avenue Jean-Jaurès, Avenue Édouard-Vaillant, and Allée des Gros Buissons, it will be built almost identically to the original design.

The nursery schools in the garden city are designed as places where manual and sporting activities contribute to the development of young children. In the playground, a merry-go-round on a rotating platform operated by the teachers is available for the young pupils. They were ordered by the municipality from the company Le Jouet Moderne, which employs disabled veterans of the First World War.

This plaster bas-relief depicting an elderly couple is a study by Maurice Saulo (1901-1963) for the monument honoring Henri Sellier. The sculpture, completed in 1962, can be seen in the square in front of the town hall. It represents all stages of life, gathered around the former mayor of Suresnes : there is a woman carrying her baby, two young children reading, and this couple, symbolizing social action for all.

This curious little piano is a singing guide equipped with a keyboard and a double internal bellows operated by a crank. It allowed teachers at Wilson School to accompany pupils during singing lessons.

Henri Sellier takes building inaugurations very seriously and does not hesitate to give his all, as he did here during the inauguration of the Albert Thomas Leisure Center, now known as the Jean Vilar Theater !

Dom Paul Bellot combines innovative construction techniques with careful attention to decoration. To enliven the interior of the building, he uses a variety of arch shapes (parabolic, pointed, mitered, corbelled) and materials.

Glazed sandstone bricks, glass blocks, porcelain stoneware paving, and wall paintings using Stic-B, a material that was very fashionable during the 1930’s, bring a wide variety of colors at a lower cost.

Most garden cities have welcomed allotment gardens, which provide a significant supplement to the income of residents living in collective housing. In Suresnes, the Longs Réages gardens were inaugurated in 2009. They comprise 40 plots, 36 of which are rented to local residents. Four plots are dedicated to educational activities.

In Suresnes, you can step back in time to the 1930s thanks to a heritage apartment. Located behind the Jean Vilar Theater, this former caretaker’s lodge has been refurbished and refurnished to resemble the home of its first occupants.

As not all accommodation had washing facilities, a wash house featuring baths and showers and a collective boiler was built in the heart of the first housing block in 1921.

The brick and cement building was previously equipped with 22 showers, 6 baths, 24 wash stands, spin-dryers and steam dryers.

The wash house was used as many as 300 times a week before buildings were renovated as part of a campaign run between 1985 and 1996.

Today this building houses the Établissement de santé et d’aide par le travail (a vocational rehabilitation centre for handicapped persons).

In an effort to improve health conditions and the residents’ well-being, a nursing and care centre for infants and children was built at No. 5, Allée des Platanes in 1937.

“Twice as much air, twice as much light, twice as much food, and half as much work”: that’s the philosophy of the Open Air School !

Thanks to these deckchairs made of almasilium—an alloy of aluminum, magnesium, and silicon—pupils can take naps on the terraces or in the playground.

Every morning, the flag is raised when the site opens : the American flag then flies above the cemetery.

On the last Sunday of May, Memorial Day is celebrated here. It is a day of tribute to all American victims who have fallen in battle around the world.

During the renovation of the swimming pool and gymnasium by Catherine Proux, heritage architect, and Laurence Mayeur, D.P.L.G. architect, many elements evoking the original use of the premises were preserved or recreated. For example, the ladders used to descend into the pool were incorporated into the new floor, which is covered with blue terrazzo evoking the surface of the water.