Museum Asleep For 100 Years

If the Cabinet of Curiosity had shelves of infinite proportions, I would like to put philanthropist Monsieur Mantin's mansion on display. There is something about this story, of the determination of one man to capture the collective memory of his home and his possessions for the benefit of others that I love. Obsessed by death and the passing of time, this eccentric French millionaire felt the most appropriate way to guarantee his legacy was to turn his late 19th Century townhouse into a time capsule.

On his death in 1905 and under the strict instruction in his Will, Louis Mantin's house in the town of Moulins, was sealed up in order that it could be reopened in 100 years times to show the people of today the life of a cultured gentleman a century ago. The house and its eclectic contents of archaeological relics, stuffed birds, medieval locks and keys, wooden sculptures, tapestries, masonic paraphernalia as well as the latest domestic inventions such as electricity and a flushing toilet were abandoned.

Despite decades of wood worm, water damage and rodent infestation, many of the unique features of the house and its content of curios survived. The mansion, finally bequest to the public has now been restored to a condition similar to that which it was on the day the Master of the house died 106 years ago. For more information visit the BBC's tour of the great house or National Geographic's photo story.