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By Jen Wainwright in Paris
Published: 17 September 2006

The village of Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or, near Lyons, has several historical monuments of which its citizens are rightly proud. But they are distinctly less happy with the Demeure du Chaos (Home of Chaos), an open-air « museum » created by eccentric resident Thierry Ehrmann.

Since 1999, Mr Ehrmann, 44, has developed the two-and-a-half-acre site into an apocalyptic work of art. The grounds of the once-elegant house are dominated by an enormous reconstruction of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. A helicopter lies destroyed in the front garden. Portraits of Osama bin Laden adorn the outer walls. A swimming pool is filled with water the colour of blood.

Inside the 17th-century house, the walls are also decorated with scenes of chaos. « There we have Chernobyl, here the Armenian massacre, over there Guantanamo Bay, » Mr Ehrmann explains.

What is it for? « When we settled here we realised we were in grave danger of becoming bourgeois, » he said. « All that remains of the bourgeois condition should be drowned in a state of permanent warfare. »

The house, which is regularly opened to the public, provokes strong reactions. Some love it, some hate it. Mayor Pierre Dumont wanted it demolished, claiming it was in breach of local planning laws. But after two years of legal wrangling, the Lyons appeal court rejected the Mayor’s complaints. Three appeal judges decided the site had artistic merit and was therefore partially exempt from planning laws.

An earlier judgment that parts of the museum should be destroyed was set aside. However, Mr Ehrmann was fined €200,000 (£135,000) for exceeding legal height limits. Mayor Dumont was disappointed. « What has become of the law if what is forbidden for some is permissible for others? » he said.

Mr Ehrmann, founder of a company specialising in the distribution of legal databases, is said to be the 307th richest man in France. He was jubilant despite the heavy fine, claiming that he had achieved a « victory over obscurantism ».

The village of Saint-Romain-au-Mont-d’Or, near Lyons, has several historical monuments of which its citizens are rightly proud. But they are distinctly less happy with the Demeure du Chaos (Home of Chaos), an open-air « museum » created by eccentric resident Thierry Ehrmann.

Since 1999, Mr Ehrmann, 44, has developed the two-and-a-half-acre site into an apocalyptic work of art. The grounds of the once-elegant house are dominated by an enormous reconstruction of the attacks on the World Trade Centre. A helicopter lies destroyed in the front garden. Portraits of Osama bin Laden adorn the outer walls. A swimming pool is filled with water the colour of blood.

Inside the 17th-century house, the walls are also decorated with scenes of chaos. « There we have Chernobyl, here the Armenian massacre, over there Guantanamo Bay, » Mr Ehrmann explains.

What is it for? « When we settled here we realised we were in grave danger of becoming bourgeois, » he said. « All that remains of the bourgeois condition should be drowned in a state of permanent warfare. »

The house, which is regularly opened to the public, provokes strong reactions. Some love it, some hate it. Mayor Pierre Dumont wanted it demolished, claiming it was in breach of local planning laws. But after two years of legal wrangling, the Lyons appeal court rejected the Mayor’s complaints. Three appeal judges decided the site had artistic merit and was therefore partially exempt from planning laws.

An earlier judgment that parts of the museum should be destroyed was set aside. However, Mr Ehrmann was fined €200,000 (£135,000) for exceeding legal height limits. Mayor Dumont was disappointed. « What has become of the law if what is forbidden for some is permissible for others? » he said.

Mr Ehrmann, founder of a company specialising in the distribution of legal databases, is said to be the 307th richest man in France. He was jubilant despite the heavy fine, claiming that he had achieved a « victory over obscurantism ».

copyright ©2006 The Independent