Saint-Étienne was built on the foundations of "La Maugée", a sugar factory whose land extended in the early nineteenth century over more than 400 hectares, from Gros-Morne to Saint-Joseph in Martinique
The architectural ensemble, constituted by the mansion, overlooking the distillery and the old workers' huts, testifies to the housing system specific to Martinique. In 1882, Saint-Étienne was bought by Amédée Aubéry, a young captain of industry who would become one of the emblematic figures of the Martinican economy.
From a sugar factory to a pure cane juice rum distillery
He transformed the sugar factory into an agricultural distillery and embarked on the modernization of infrastructure. He enlarged the factory and gave it a magnificent façade punctuated by 28 arched windows that ensured optimal ventilation for the building. Railway tracks were installed on the distillery site: draught animals pulled wagons that transported sugar cane. Hydraulic power is provided by the Lézarde River through a gravel canal that crosses the Creole garden. In 1909, the property passed into the hands of the Simonnet family, who developed the distillery's activity until its decline in the late 80s.
The new era of HSE by the Hayot family
The estate was bought in 1994 by Yves and José Hayot who relaunched the Saint-Étienne brand and undertook the restoration and enhancement of the architectural heritage of the house. Now listed in the supplementary inventory of historical monuments, the distillery is one of the last and most beautiful witnesses of the mastery and aesthetics of industrial architecture of the late nineteenth century in Martinique.