The Jean Monnet House, sometimes referred to as Houjarray for the hamlet in which it is located, is a country farmhouse in

Bazoches-sur-Guyonne Bazoches-sur-Guyonne () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. See also *Communes of the Yvelines department An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree o ...

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207.Montfort-l'Amaury about 27 miles west of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

Jean Monnet Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet (; 9 November 1888 – 16 March 1979) was a French civil servant, entrepreneur, diplomat, financier, administrator, and political visionary. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered one of the ...

purchased the house and surrounding land in 1945, upon his return to France after living abroad since June 1940. Monnet mostly lived there until his death in 1979, except in 1952-1955 when he headed the

European Coal and Steel Community The European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) was a European organization created after World War II to regulate the coal and steel industries. It was formally established in 1951 by the Treaty of Paris, signed by Belgium, France, Italy, Luxembo ...

's High Authority in

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. Since 1982, the house has been owned and managed by the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

History

Monnet purchased the property in 1945 from , a Swedish doctor, and spent the rest of his life there with his wife Silvia. Monnet habitually took long morning walks in the forest surrounding the home, before being chauffeured to Paris where he had his office, at the General Planning Commission from 1946 to 1952 and at the

Action Committee for the United States of Europe The Action Committee for the United States of Europe (french: Comité d'action pour les États-Unis d'Europe), colloquially referred to as the Monnet Committee, was a collective initiative spearheaded by Jean Monnet from 1955 to 1975 that aimed a ...

from 1955 to 1976. Some of the foundational ideas of Europe were considered and created at the house, including the May 1950 Schuman Declaration which

Robert Schuman Jean-Baptiste Nicolas Robert Schuman (; 29 June 18864 September 1963) was a Luxembourg-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat (Popular Republican Movement) political thinker and activist. Twice Prime Minister of France, a ref ...

would present as a proposal for the creation of the

. That declaration, which created the foundation for the development of the

European Community The European Economic Community (EEC) was a regional organization created by the Treaty of Rome of 1957,Today the largely rewritten treaty continues in force as the ''Treaty on the functioning of the European Union'', as renamed by the Lisbo ...

, was drafted at the house by Monnet and his aides in late April 1950. Over the years, many important political figures, including

Walter Hallstein Walter Hallstein (17 November 1901 – 29 March 1982) was a German academic, diplomat and statesman who was the first President of the European Commission, President of the European Commission, Commission of the European Economic Community ...

, Paul-Henri Spaak, Konrad Adenauer, and

René Pleven René Pleven (; 15 April 1901 – 13 January 1993) was a notable French politician of the Fourth Republic. A member of the Free French, he helped found the Democratic and Socialist Union of the Resistance (UDSR), a political party that was meant ...

, 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 Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

, 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 Hubert Beuve-Méry (5 January 1902 in Paris – 6 August 1989 in Fontainebleau) was a French journalist and newspaper editor. Before the Second World War, he was associated with the Vichy regime until December 1942, when he joined the Resista ...

and his neighbor , also visited Monnet at his home for long conversations. Monnet would ritually regale his guests with the family cognac. Jean Monnet died at his home in Houjarray on . In 1982, the

, considering that the Monnet House was a common heritage of Europeans, bought the house and subsequently refurbished it as a memorial to Monnet. From 1990 to 2018, the European Parliament delegated the house's management to the Jean Monnet Association, created in 1986 and initially chaired by

Étienne Hirsch Étienne Hirsch (20 January 1901 – 17 May 1994) was a French civil engineer and a member of the French Resistance during World War II. He served as President of the Commission of the European Atomic Energy Community between 1959 and 1962 (see ...

. The European Parliament also built a small conference center next to the house, named after

Hans-Gert Pöttering Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ( CDU, European People's Party), who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CD ...

and inaugurated in 2008.

Description

The house includes a ground floor, with displays aiming to recreate their state during Monnet's lifetime, and a first floor, which hosts a permanent exhibition about Monnet's life and role in European history. A wide and open garden slopes down from the house.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monnet House, The Jean Houses in France Historic houses Jean Monnet