Owing to its trade and industry, Troyes was a flourishing city during the Renaissance. Unfortunately, on 24 May 1524, a huge fire destroyed about a third of the city, leaving thousands of people homeless. Reconstruction needed to be fast. The richest residents opted for stone, brick and chalk to build private mansions in the elaborate Renaissance style (Hôtel Juvénal des Ursins, Hôtel de Marisy or Hôtel du Petit Louvre). The rest rebuilt identical timber-framed houses. The old town remains to this day full of half-timbered buildings from the 16th and 17th centuries, which have been preserved and renovated since the 1990s.