The Jean Monnet House

The Jean Monnet House is a country farmhouse located in Houjarray, Yvelines, France. The house and surrounding land became Jean Monnet’s property in 1945 upon his return to France after living abroad for several years. Previously owned by a Swedish pre-war director in France Ivan Bratt, this house is located near Montfort-l'Amaury, 27 miles west of Paris.[1]

Characteristics of the Property

The house contains a ground floor and a first floor, and the roof is constructed of thick thatched straw. The exterior of the structure is cream, and the windows are protected by light blue shutters. The surrounding garden is wide and open, sloping down away from the house and into the trees which line the property.[2]

Francois Duchene described Monnet's residence as follows: "From now on...the long, low thatched house, Le Carrefour des Buttes (The Crossing on the Mounds), set at the top of a field with a few trees, was the settled family home...The hamlet of Houjarry the house stands in is at the edge of the forest of Rambouillet, twenty-seven miles west of Paris."[3]

History

During the Life of Jean Monnet

Monnet purchased the property in 1945, and spent the rest of his life with the farmhouse as his and his wife's primary residence.[4] Monnet spent much of his time thinking and writing on the future of Europe, or taking long walks in the garden and forest surrounding his home.[5]

Over the years, many of Europe's political figures and dignitaries visited Monnet at his country home. As a result, some of the foundational ideas of Europe were considered and created at the House of Jean Monnet.[6]

In April 1950, Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, and several other "founding fathers of Europe" drafted the May 1950 Declaration, which Schuman would present as a proposal for the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC). This declaration created the foundation for the development of the European Community.[7]

Over the years, many important political figures, including Robert Schuman, Walter Hallstein, Paul-Henri Spaak, Konrad Adenauer, and René Pleven, visited Jean Monnet's home and discussed politics and the potential for a common future in Europe. Jean Monnet invited his friends, including Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Ball, and Edward Heath, visiting Paris to join him at his farmhouse on Sundays. Journalists, including the likes of Walter Lippmann, Hubert Beuve-Méry and his neighbor Pierre Viansson-Ponté, also visited Monnet at his home for long and engaging long conversations., [8][9][10]

Jean Monnet died at his home in Houjarray on 16 March 1979.[11]

Acquisition by the European Parliament

In 1982, the European Parliament considered that the Monnet House was a common heritage of Europeans. The Parliament bought the house, restored it and later asked the Jean Monnet Association to recreate the house as it was during Monnet's life, as well as to handle administration and events.[12]

The Jean Monnet Association

In 1987, former collaborators and close friends of Jean Monnet formed the Friends of Jean Monnet Association. The goal of the Association was "to contribute its support for all activities and projects aimed at reviving and transmitting the memory of Jean Monnet, his work and his teachings. To this end, it gathers information on these activities and projects and ensures their communication to all interested people or media."[13]

The Association has progressively implemented and developed courses and activities on topics of European construction at the Jean Monnet House. In 1987, the House received 100 visitors; in 1998, almost 17,000 people visited the House. As of 2010, the team of the Jean Monnet Association organizes about 250 lectures per year on European history and current events.[14]

Today, the Jean Monnet Association works, through on-site tours and conferences, to teach the public about Jean Monnet and the construction of the European Union.[15]

References

  1. ↑ Duchene, Francois (1994). Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence. London: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 147. ISBN 0393034976.
  2. ↑ "Jean Monnet: Father of Europe". University of Denver, Strum College of Law. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  3. ↑ Duchene, Francois (1994). Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence. London: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 147. ISBN 0393034976.
  4. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. ↑ Monnet, Jean (1978). Memoirs. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. pp. 339, 521. ISBN 0385125054.
  6. ↑ Monnet, Jean (1978). Memoirs. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. pp. 279, 348. ISBN 0385125054.
  7. ↑ Monnet, Jean (1978). Memoirs. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. pp. 288–305. ISBN 0385125054.
  8. ↑ Monnet, Jean (1978). Memoirs. New York: Doubleday & Company, Inc. ISBN 0385125054.
  9. ↑ Duchene, Francois (1994). Jean Monnet: The First Statesman of Interdependence. London: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 188. ISBN 0393034976.
  10. ↑ Hackett, Clifford P. (1995). Monnet and the Americas. Washington, DC: Jean Monnet Council. p. 116. ISBN 0964254107.
  11. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  13. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  14. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  15. ↑ Association Jean Monnet http://www.ajmonnet.eu. Retrieved 23 June 2015. Missing or empty |title= (help)

Coordinates: 48°46′15″N 1°51′06″E / 48.7707°N 1.8518°E / 48.7707; 1.8518

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