Guernsey mansion where Victor Hugo penned Les Miserable opens after a stunning £3.8million revamp 

Beautiful Guernsey mansion where Victor Hugo penned Les Misérables re-opens after a stunning £3.8million revamp

  • Author and artist Victor Hugo lived at Hauteville House in Guernsey for 15 years during his exile from France
  • It is now a museum but has been closed for the Past 18 months to undergo an extensive £3.8m restoration 
  • Furniture was restored, conservatories rebuilt and gardens re-laid. It usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year

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The beautiful mansion where author Victor Hugo wrote Les Misérables has re-opened after a stunning £3.8million revamp.

Hauteville House in Guernsey had been closed for 18 months while being extensively restored to its former glory.

And yesterday, the home, which is now a museum, finally opened to the public once again.

Inside the restored Hauteville House in Guernsey, which was the former home of author Victor Hugo and where he wrote Les Misérables

The house was closed for 18 months while being extensively restored to its former glory at a cost of £3.8million

The house was closed for 18 months while being extensively restored to its former glory at a cost of £3.8million 

Hauteville House was designed and furnished by the French writer and artist during his 15-year exile in Guernsey from 1856

Hauteville House was designed and furnished by the French writer and artist during his 15-year exile in Guernsey from 1856

The house usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year between April and September, and has been given a number of improvements

The house usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year between April and September, and has been given a number of improvements

One of the conservatories at Hauteville House, which has been rebuilt as part of the restoration programme

One of the conservatories at Hauteville House, which has been rebuilt as part of the restoration programme 

As well as Les Misérables, Hugo also wrote Toilers of the Sea, The Man Who Laughs and The Legend of the Ages at this house

As well as Les Misérables, Hugo also wrote Toilers of the Sea, The Man Who Laughs and The Legend of the Ages at this house 

The house, which usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year between April and September, has been given a number of improvements.

Among the renovation works, furniture collected by Hugo from all over the world has been reconditioned, the conservatories have been rebuilt to bring more light into the house and the garden has been re-laid to how it was originally conceived by Hugo.

Hauteville House was designed and furnished by the French writer and artist during his 15-year exile in Guernsey from 1856.

It was here where he wrote some of his most famous works, which also include Toilers of the Sea, The Man Who Laughs and The Legend of the Ages.

The house was passed to the city of Paris by the Hugo family in 1927 and is now managed by Paris Musées. Pictured is one of the restored rooms

The house was passed to the city of Paris by the Hugo family in 1927 and is now managed by Paris Musées. Pictured is one of the restored rooms 

Furniture collected by Hugo from all over the world has been reconditioned to its former glory

Furniture collected by Hugo from all over the world has been reconditioned to its former glory 

The beautiful house is widely regarded as a piece of work in itself and an expression of Hugo's creative genius

The beautiful house is widely regarded as a piece of work in itself and an expression of Hugo’s creative genius

An archive picture showing author and artist Victor Hugo and his family outside Hauteville House in Guernsey

An archive picture showing author and artist Victor Hugo and his family outside Hauteville House in Guernsey 

The beautiful house is widely regarded as a piece of work in itself and an expression of his creative genius as it is full of second-hand furniture and bric-à-brac bought by Hugo during his time on the island.

The house was passed to the city of Paris by the Hugo family in 1927 and is now managed by Paris Musées, which is also responsible for the conservation of Hugo’s other iconic house on the Place des Vosges in Paris.

The restoration project team was made up of representatives from both houses, as well as Paris Musées and Guernsey Heritage.

Hauteville House is full of second-hand furniture and bric-à-brac bought by Hugo during his time on the island of Guernsey

Hauteville House is full of second-hand furniture and bric-à-brac bought by Hugo during his time on the island of Guernsey 

Hauteville House is open daily, except for Wednesdays, from April 7 to September 3, from 10am to 6pm

Hauteville House is open daily, except for Wednesdays, from April 7 to September 3, from 10am to 6pm

The Georgian mansion usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year between April and September

The Georgian mansion usually welcomes 20,000 visitors a year between April and September

Hauteville House is open daily, except for Wednesdays, from April 7 to September 3, from 10am to 6pm.

Admission is £10 for adults and children under 18 are free. Admission to the Garden only is £4.

The Pinault Collection’s patronage programme covered £2.6million of the restoration with the remainder financed by Paris Musées and the Heritage Foundation.

The massive funding came as part of a special patronage programme from art connoisseur Francois Pinault.

Mr Pinault is one of the most significant collectors of contemporary art in the world and for more than four decades has built up a collection of almost 3,000 works.

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