This charming building has an uncommonly well-designed facade,
picturesque in the extreme, rich in detail, and thoroughly dignified. We
are indebted to M. Levy, of Paris, for the loan of M. Garen's spirited
etching, from which our illustration is taken. The arcaded piazza on the
ground story, the niche-spaced tier of traceried windows on the first
floor, the flamboyant paneled cornice stage, and the three crowning
gables over it unite in one harmonious conception, the whole elevation
being finished by a central tower, while at either end of the facade two
massively treated buttresses furnish a satisfactory inclosing line, and
give more than a suggestion of massiveness, so necessary to render an
arcaded front like this quite complete within itself; otherwise it must
more or less appear to be only part of a larger building. The style is
Late Gothic, designed when the first influence of the Early Renaissance
was beginning to be felt through France as well as Belgium, and in
several respects the design has a Flemish character about it.
[Illustration: HOTEL DE VILLE, ST. QUENTIN.]
St. Quentin is situated on the Goy, in the department of Cotes du Nord,
and the town is seated in a picturesque valley some ten miles S.S.W. of
the capital, St Brieuc, which is a bishop's see, and has a small harbor
near the English Channel, and about thirty miles from St.
Malo.--_Building News_.
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