Château de Grosbois

Boissy-Saint-Léger, France

Nicolas Harlay de Sancy built a château on the former lands of Saint-Victor abbey at the start of the 17th century. This was still incomplete in 1616, when it was sold to Charles de Valois (1573–1650), count of Auvergne then duke of Angoulême (1619), illegitimate son of Charles IX of France by Marie Touchet. de Valois completed the château around 1640, notably building the enclosing wall (1623) and the two wings. On his death in 1650 the estate passed to his granddaughter, wife of Louis, Duke of Joyeuse.

In 1718, the estate was bought by Samuel-Jacques Bernard (1686-1753), son of the financier Samuel Bernard, who commissioned the woodwork in the salon Régence. He then sold it to Germain Louis Chauvelin in 1731, who in 1762 sold it in turn to François Marie Peyrenc de Moras. She left it to her great-niece Anne Marie de Merle de Beauchamps in 1771 - Anne Marie was daughter of an ambassador to the king of Portugal and wife of Pierre Paul Gilbert des Voisins, président to the parlement de Paris. She and her husband sold it to the comte de Provence in 1776.

It was confiscated as national property on the French Revolution and sold on 9 November 1797 to Paul Barras. Later, Barras was exiled to Belgium and sold the château, in 1801, to général Moreau. In 1804, after Moreau's arrest, Napoleon I bought the château via Fouché and in 1805 granted it to maréchal Berthier, prince of Wagram. Berthier spent much money embellishing it, expanding the library, the galerie des Batailles, the salon de l'Empereur and the salon des Huissiers. He also built two more pavilions and the entrance gate across the road. He enlarged the estate to make it the best hunting-ground in the French Empire and gave grand festivals there. His son Napoléon Berthier expanded the library, which included over 3,000 works.

The last prince of Wagram, Alexandre Louis Philippe Marie Berthier, died without issue in 1918, leaving Grosbois to his sister, the princesse de la Tour d’Auvergne, and to his nephew, prince Godefroy de la Tour d’Auvergne. In 1962, René Ballière bought the estate to set up a training centre for racehorses.

Designed by an unknown architect, the château de Grosbois is clearly influenced by those designed by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau. On a U plan, it is made up of a central wing curved into an exedra, flanked by two pavilions of the same height and by two lower wings at right angles. It is built on a rectangular platform in the middle of a once water-filled moat, now dry. It is reached by three bridges.

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Details

Founded: 17th century
Category: Castles and fortifications in France

More Information

en.wikipedia.org

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4.5/5 (based on Google user reviews)

User Reviews

Malith Hasintha (17 months ago)
Calm and quiet around the building. Very helpful and friendly service. Highly recommend.
Marty (2 years ago)
Stunning training center
DAnica Mracevic Jurisic (3 years ago)
I take a lot of pride in my knowledge of parisien area and all the historically relevant spots in it, but this one humbled me and left me in awe. It is amazing, charming, secret place with wonderful castel and surrounding. It has a museum dedicated to horses and tour guides that will fill you up on all hot gossips of previous owners and their friends ( like Napoleon Bonaparte). They don't keep it very out there, they prefer to be descreat, but there are ways to get in.
Jc Goncalves (4 years ago)
Top
Imran Yasir (4 years ago)
Nice
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