La Licorne

The old regime

The hotel would have been built by a family of the nobility, probably the BENSERADE (Masters of water and forests). Owners of the premises, they would have put them in operation by a contract of fief (kind of lease of indefinite duration). A notary document of 1669 tells us the first hotelier, Pierre RICHARD. The burrow of 1678 is more explicit “is compared honorable man Jean LAPOSTRE hotelier who declared:” a house and other buildings with the court sitting on the great square of this place vulgarly called La Licorne “. In the eighteenth century, the BERTENGLES, another family of the nobility (prosecutors of the King in the Control of Waters and Forests) are the owners. In 1715, the Master of the Inn of La Licorne is Pierre DESTARDINS. The contract of fief established in 1730 is concluded with Philippe LE TAILLEUR, hotelier of the “Licorne Royale”. In 1768, a new landlord obtained the management of the house, François LABOR. It takes the same year the name of “Licorne Royale”. The LABOR are gradually integrated into the Lyonsian bourgeoisie. In 1769, François LABOUR holds the organ of the parish church of Lyons. A son of the hotelier turned lawyer, marries a daughter of Mr Marin BEAUFILS, catcher of the Lyons estate. In 1789, François LABOUR (night of August 4) became the owner of the hotel. The following year, on the occasion of the patriotic contribution, he donated 150 livres.