Huis Soiron
Huis Soiron is a former canon house in the center of the Dutch city of Maastricht. It is located at Grote Gracht 82 in the central neighborhood Statenkwartier and as of 2004 is owned by Maastricht University, which also occupies several nearby properties, including the Hof van Tilly. The building from the late 18th century possesses a number of rooms with lavish stucco work in Louis XVI style and has been a national monument since 1966.
History
The House of Soiron was built on a plot on the Grote Gracht where the House of Cumberland had previously stood, formerly known as Poort van Thisius. This gate house was owned by the Protestant magistrate family Thisius until the end of the 17th century, after which it passed to the Van Buren family in 1697. The name House of Cumberland is derived from William of Cumberland, son of King George II of Great Britain and third Duke of Cumberland. Cumberland was one of the leading field men in the battle of Lauffeld during the War of the Austrian Succession in 1747. He probably occupied the house at the time, and was a member of the family.In October 1785, the dilapidated building was purchased by the wealthy Andreas Joseph Soiron and his brother Wilhelmus Martinus, both canons of the Chapter of Saint Servatius. They commissioned their brother Mathias Soiron, city architect of Maastricht, to design a city palace to replace the old house. The floor plan of the new house reflects the traditional layout of a townhouse in the Prince-Bishopric of Liège: the living quarters are located to the left of the passageway; the staircase and service quarters are to the right. The late-classic façade and sumptuous interior showcase the wealth and prestige of the two brothers. Less than ten years after the completion of the canon house, the power of the St. Servaas chapter, which formed a near-separate state within the city of Maastricht, was over. After the French conquered Maastricht in 1794, the chapter lost all of its privileges and possessions, and was disbanded in 1797.
The Soiron brothers refused to take the oath of hatred for kingship and anarchy demanded by the French and were therefore exiled to the penal colony of Cayenne in French Guiana together with the provost of Saint Servatius, Thomas Jacob van Wassenaer. Through the intervention of the French-minded lawyer and representative of the people, Charles Clément Roemers, this could be prevented and the Soirons were allowed to serve their sentence in Compiègne. After the Concordat of 15 July 1801 they returned home, but the premises on the Grote Gracht had meanwhile passed into other hands. In 1825 the tax collector and town councillor E.H. Ruys lived here. Around 1840 the notary Deflize lived there.
Later, members of the Regout family of industrialists lived there: from about 1852 Edouard Regout with his wife and eleven children; then his son Joseph with his wife and thirteen children. In 1920, the family sold the house to the insurance bank 'De Maas'. In 1962, the city of Maastricht bought it for the Finance Department. In that year, the building was extensively photographed for the Rijksdienst voor de Monumentenzorg, now the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed. Four years later the building was listed.
In 1987 the building was given an educational purpose, first for the Rijkshogeschool Opleiding Tolk-Vertaler, which had a new wing built at the rear in 1989. In 1999 Maastricht University bought Huis Soiron. Since 2004 it has been home to the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. In 2003 the university acquired the adjoining property Hof van Tilly, which was connected to the House of Soiron. Meanwhile, the so-called Ursuline Schools are also owned by the university, creating a second campus in this part of the inner city, next to the Jeker Quarter.