It is one of the symbols of the passage of Australians and New Zealanders in the Somme during the First World War. The Thuillier farm in Vignacourt. In 2011, several thousand photos, taken by the owners, were discovered in the attic of the Thuillier house. More than 10 years later, the house, in ruins, threatens to collapse.
“We have to do something, we agree. We have to try to save her, we agree”, explains Valérie Vasseur, the director of the interpretation center opened in 2018 in the outbuildings of the Thuillier farm. It is here that the photos discovered in the house are displayed. “It has become dangerous. The cellar is in danger of collapsing. The facades are not in good condition, the chimney too”, she continues, all the more “as there has been nothing about the house in the museum project. A project that we carried out. It’s not because we managed it badly”she said again.
A year after the discovery of these period photos, the town of Vignacourt became the owner of the Thuillier estate. A diagnosis is made. Assessment: “it is not reasonable to rehabilitate the house because the costs would be too high. Around 800,000 euros”remembers Valérie Vasseur.
“We cannot orient the budget of the municipality only on the Thuillier house”adds Stéphane Ducrotoy, the mayor of Vignacourt. “There are other priorities such as doing work on the school canteen where more than 200 children eat every day. There is also the municipal media library”, said the chosen one again. To warn about the situation, the town hall has raised the idea of making it a gite, bed and breakfast or even demolish it. “But nothing has been budgeted”continues Stéphane Ducrotoy.
“We have already started to get closer to associations for old buildings. Why not do work in sequence over the remaining four years of the mandate. So as not to leave this Thuillier house abandoned”ends Stéphane Ducrotoy.