The Château de Breteuil (previously called the Château de Bevilliers) is a château situated in the Vallée de Chevreuse in Yvelines department of France, 35 km (22 mi) to the south-west of Paris. The château was designated a monument historique in 1973.
The family of the Marquis de Breteuil gave three ministers to the Kings of France. The château is still owned by the de Breteuil family.
The design is similar to the Château de Dampierre-en-Yvelines by Jules Hardouin-Mansart.
Relations with England
On March 12, 1881, the Marquis Henri de Breteuil organized a secret meeting at the Château with the Prince of Wales, future King Edward VII, and Léon Gambetta, President of the Chamber of Deputies. This constituted the beginnings of the Entente Cordiale.
In 1912, another Prince of Wales, the future Duke of Windsor, stayed with the Breteuil family for four months to improve his French.

Château de Breteuil

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The Château de la Madeleine is a castle located in the town of Chevreuse, in the French département of Yvelines (Île de France). In a good state of preservation, it was built on the top of a hill and dominates the town.
The name comes from the chapel of the castle, dedicated to Sainte Marie-Madeleine.
History
The construction of the Château de la Madeleine began between 1020 and 1090, under Guy I, lord of Chevreuse. The objective was to protect the village of Chevreuse against pillage. From this period, only the keep remains. At this time, the keep was surrounded by a wooden palisade; this palisade was replaced by stone curtain walls during the 12th century.
One century later, probably under the reign of Anseau de Chevreuse, the castle was modified, notably with the construction of the machicolations. The gatehouse was protected by a moat; the water was retained by a dam for domestic use.
The castles changed hands in 1356: Ingerger le Grand, lord of Chevreuse and Amboise, was taken prisoner by England during the Hundred Years' War. He was constrained to sell his domain to pay his ransom; the castle was bought by the future Pierre de Chevreuse.
The existing fortifications were largely improved under the reigns of Charles V and Charles VI; they financed the outworks with royal taxes. The modifications were completed under Louis XI (1461 – 1483). Along with the castle, the village was also fortified: a crenelated rampart, 3.5 m (11 ft) high with turrets, was built. The defence was completed by a 15 m large ditch (50 feet).
Circa 1661, Jean Racine supervised modifications of the keep; his name was given to the road from the convent of Port-Royal to the center of the village, passing by the Château de la Madeleine. The keep was partially restored during the 19th century.
The last modifications were in the 20th century. The heart of the castle now houses the park headquarters for the regional natural park of the valley of Chevreuse (French: Parc naturel régional de la Haute Vallée de Chevreuse); the modern architecture is mixed with the square towers, and uses old rooms.
Present state
The intact parts are:

the complete curtain wall with two square towers in the east, facing the village;
the main door surrounded by two towers; the stone pediment collapsed and was replaced by a wooden lintel;
two round towers; one is semicircular, the other is surmounted by a turret for watching;
the keep, having small openings from the 11th century on one side, and windows from the 15th century on the other front;
a well (15th century)
machicolations, on the top of the ramparts.
The castle is open to the public for free. A few rooms are accessible; an exhibition shows the history of the castle.
The Château de la Madeleine has been protected by the French Ministry of Culture as a monument historique since 1940.

Château de la Madeleine

The Château de Dampierre is the castle in Dampierre-en-Yvelines, in the Vallée de Chevreuse, France.
Built by Jules Hardouin-Mansart in 1675–1683 for the duc de Chevreuse, Colbert's son-in-law, it is a French Baroque château of medium size. Protected behind fine wrought iron double gates, the main block (corps de logis) and its outbuildings, linked by balustrades, are ranged symmetrically around a dry paved and gravelled cour d'honneur. Behind, the central axis is extended between the former parterres, now mown hay. The park with formally shaped water was laid out by André Le Nôtre. There are sumptuous interiors. The small scale (compared to Vaux-le-Vicomte for example) makes it easier to compare it to the approximately contemporary Het Loo, for William III of Orange.
The grande galerie was reconstructed for the amateur archaeologist and collector, Honoré Théodoric d'Albert de Luynes, under the direction of antiquarian architect Félix Duban. Sculptor Pierre-Charles Simart contributed Hellenic friezes and reliefs for the project. Ingres' Age of Gold remains as testament to the abortive project of decorating it in fresco, not Ingres' habitual medium.
The park, which lost many trees in the storm of 26 December 1999, offers a formal canal and an eighteenth-century garden folly.

Château de Dampierre

The Château de Janvry is a stately home in the French village of Janvry, Essonne.
The château dates back to the 17th century. It is still partially surrounded by watered moats. Its main building includes a primary wing facing west and two attached side wings, the north wing and the south wing. All wings are linked, creating a U-shaped château. The château was listed as an historical monument by the Demeure Historique Association in the early 1980s.
History
The château was built around 1600 and 1650 in the Louis XIII architectural style. It has been part of the Reille family for many centuries. The château has always been passted from generation to generation by the women of the family. Therefore, each succession brought a new last name as the estate’s owner. The families of Anjoran and Reille are among those who inherited the château. During the French Revolution of 1789, the château was robbed, resulting in the family losing all of its older documents regarding the château, its estate and history. Since the mid-19th century, the château has been used as a secondary residence by the family. The monument located at the village entrance was built following the death while giving birth in 1847 of Elisabeth Anjoran.
The Baron Jean Victor Reille inherited the domain during the Second World War. As the château had been unoccupied by the Reille family during the war, German, English and French troops were successfully lodged in the château. Local inhabitants witnessed the degradation of the property by some of the French troops, unlike the Germans or the English who took care of the estate. Some soldiers extracted wood panels from the original 17th-century hardwood floors to use as fuel for the master living room chimney during the harsh winter months. Today, traces of the new and replaced wooden panels can be seen in some parts of the formal living rooms. Also, in a bedroom on the second floor of the north-west tower, some inscriptions and writings on the walls can be found, witnessing the occupancy by French soldiers.
When Baron Jean Reille arrived to the château returning from the war, nettles were growing in some of the rooms of the house. Over the next few years following the end of the Second World, he and his wife Liliane successfully gave the château back its ancient splendor by installing a new roof, adding modern plumbing and electricity, also remodeling the interior of the house. His son, the Baron Ghislain Reille, pursued this laborious work when he took responsibility over the house in the 1980s. The château is now a modern property where many renovations have been made within the original style and charm of the Louis XIII-style chateau.
In recent years, film and television production companies intended to use the château for production needs, but the only time the château has ever been open to the public was in 1995 for a fireworks show.
Tourism
Visitors access the main building using a bridge passing over the moats, through a very large wrought iron portal which leads to the formal courtyard (‘Cour d’Honneur’). The portal key weights around 1 kilo (two pounds) and measures up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) long. Leading to the château from the fields to the west is a 200-yard (180 m) alley, bordered with poplars (‘l’Allee des Peupliers’). This alley was the original château’s entrance, and is now covered with maintained grass as a paved village street which crosses the alley along the moats, separating the alley from the château, creating an easy access for visitors and owners. The Cour d’Honneur is a large 50 by 50 meter courtyard covered with white gravel. It is surrounded by grassy areas and plants separating the courtyard in symmetric areas, giving a perspective view of the main building to the arriving visitor.
The main building follows a Louis XIII architectural style. Following this architecture trends, the château shows a very typical dissymmetry, unique to the Louis XIII style. The west side of the main building has four windows left to the main entrance, and three on the right side. Similarly, on the east side of the building (facing the private park), five windows can be found on the right of the entrance door and four on the left.
The main building
The central part of the château (the west wing), includes the master living room, dining room, billiard and château’s formal entryway. All rooms have windows facing east and west. These rooms receive natural daylight from the sunrise over the park to sunset over the fields and the poplar alley. The second floor includes a long corridor leading to several bedroom suites overlooking the private park and garden.
The first floor of the north wing was originally designed to store stagecoaches for lords or visitors. Since then, the arches where the stagecoaches were stored have been filled, but are still easily visible.
The south wing faces the small courtyard and is a fully functional home with its own private entrance, kitchen and large living/dining room on the first floor. The second floor is accessible through private staircases. Four bedrooms and a bathroom can be found on the second floor. The south wing was originally intended for the staff’s use. The entrance to this wing used to be the fruit cellar. There is a separate apartment on the first floor. The kitchen was a bedroom, and the current living/dining room was a small studio. The second floor rooms were accessible through the staircases found on the southern part of the west wing.
The small courtyard
This courtyard is surrounded by barns and granaries forming a closed square where poultry, cattle and other farm animals used to be raised. All barns still have many traces of past activities. In one cowshed, some cows’ names can be seen. The stable is still functional and can house up to four horses. The attics above the barns are sumptuous with their vaulted ceilings and large oak beams from the local forests. One barn in particular has ceilings soaring 15–20 metres high. They were used to store cereals and grains. One of the barns leads to the south-western part of the tower, where four jail cells can still be found. In order to preserve its authenticity, no one has ever renovated these cells. Only a small and inaccessible fanlight gives air and light to the room. Two of the four jail doors are still present. It has been confirmed that these jail cells were being used during the Second World War for war prisoners.
The cellar
The cellar runs under the entire west and north wings. The vaulted cellar has been used to store food and wine for many years. The cider and apple liquor produced in the château were stored there to mature.
The well
Although the well is filled with rain water, it is still functional and filled each winter with water running down from the gutters.
The park
The château is surrounded by a 14 hectare (34.5 acres) park. The park offers complete privacy and is surrounded by stone walls except for a small section wire netted. The park includes 10 hectares of forest with large alleys for leisurely strolls. There is more than two hectares of grassy area, half of which is mowed lawn. A one hectare lake and a tennis court are also located in the park. The park is accessible to modern vehicles through the small courtyard. There are also two portals located on the east and north walls.
The park includes a high density of medium to small trees with primarily large oaks (some of which will reach maturity in a few years). Those multi-century old oaks stand all across the park. According to experts, the oldest oak is more than 300 years old. The park has been designed over the centuries to include many tree species: oaks, beeches (including the red beech alley), elms, hazel and chestnut trees.
To the north of the château is a large orchard with various fruit trees and an organic vegetable garden that is maintained all year. Chicken coops and other small farm animals (geese, etc.) are also in this garden.
The château’s icebox, where ice brought by horses was stored under the oak trees’ coolness, can be found close to the east portal. This icebox has long been used by the château’s staff.
A legend says that the nearby château called the Château de Saint Jean de Beauregard and a monastery (now disappeared) located in the Arpajon forest were linked through a network of subterranean tunnels. Those tunnels were built to allow the owners to escape in the event of danger. Traces of those tunnels are clearly visible in the park, but no confirmation has been given to the tunnel’s destination or length today.
The estate
Surrounding the village, the château and its park (mostly centered to the northern part of the château), the estate includes 65 hectares (160 acres) of farming fields and 105 hectares (260 acres) of forest.
Location
The Château de Janvry is located 30 kilometers (19 mi) from the center of Paris.

Château de Janvry

Le château de Saint-Jean de Beauregard est un château français situé à Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard dans le département de l'Essonne et la région Île-de-France.
Situation
Le château de Saint-Jean de Beauregard est situé dans la commune française de Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard, dans l'ancienne province de Hurepoix, aujourd'hui le département de l'Essonne et la région Île-de-France, à vingt-cinq kilomètres au sud-ouest de Paris.
L'accès se fait par l'A10, ou la RN118, depuis Paris, sortie Les Ulis, commune limitrophe de Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard.
Histoire
Le début de la construction du château date de 1612, sur la demande de François Dupoux, conseiller du Roi. Un nouveau château est alors construit à la place des ruines de Montfaucon qui faisait face à l'ancien château de Montlhéry. Le nouveau seigneur des lieux demande à Louis XIII la substitution du nom de Montfaucon, de sinistre renommée, en Beauregard. Le roi ordonne le changement de nom du lieu de Saint-Jean-de-Monfaucon en Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard.
François Garnier, écuyer, se rend acquéreur du domaine en 1638. Ensuite, le domaine passe dans les mains de Charles Doullet de Neufville, puis de Gabriel de Mehertin de Saint Pierre, puis en 1669 d'un conseiller du Roi, Pierre de La Mouche.
Cent ans plus tard le château est vendu à Laurent Charron, Receveur général des Domaines et Forêts de la généralité de Paris (1678-1751). Françoise Matagon, sa veuve, reste seule maîtresse du domaine. Habitant rue Sainte-Avoye à Paris, elle en fait sa maison de campagne. Elle décède en 1768 et son fils unique, Laurent Charron (bapt. 1706) décède à son tour l'année suivante. Le château et domaine revient à la troisième fille de ce dernier, Françoise-Mélanie Charron, épouse de Victor-Amédée d'Auberjon, comte de Murinais, brigadier, maréchal de camp, chevalier de l'ordre de Saint-Louis. Le parc évolue timidement alors vers la mode anglaise. Le château est légué en 1866 à M. Quatresolz de Marolles, puis en 1879 le comte puis duc de Caraman achète le domaine. Les propriétaires actuels font partie de la famille de Caraman.
Le nom de "Beauregard" provient, selon la coutume, du point vu des terrasses du château, sur la vallée de la Salmouille, le panorama étant le plus beau donné à son regard pour le premier occupant.
Le château fut inscrit au titre des monuments historiques le 28 octobre 1926, le domaine dans son ensemble a finalement été classé le 5 juillet 1993.
Architecture
Le bâtiment principal, en grès clair, est une construction classique du xviie siècle, sur 3 niveaux. Il est bordé par des communs, disposant d'un pigeonnier et d'une orangerie.
La perspective du parc, depuis les terrasses, ainsi que les alentours proches du château, sont composés d'un jardin dit à la française. Attenant aux communs, le domaine dispose d'un jardin potager (encore utilisé de nos jours, pour des légumes rares, lors des journées des plantes).
Le reste du domaine est une composition à l'anglaise, partie dans laquelle se situe une chapelle, en meulière et une glacière.
Le domaine de Saint-Jean-de-Beauregard est labellisé «Jardin remarquable».

Château de Beauregard (Essonne)

Château du Haut-Buc is located in Buc, in Yvelines, France.Attached to the royal bailiwick in the late seventeenth century and located in the large park of Versailles at the time, the Haut-Buc served including Louis XIV, then King of France, to house his natural son and the Count of Toulouse Duke of Penthièvre, Louis Alexandre de Bourbon he had Madame de Montespan, and thus evade the eyes of the court before he was legitimized in 1681. In 1740, the castle was destroyed by order of Louis XV but another building was erected on the site between 1864 and 1866. This new castle was built for Leon Thomas, rich Parisian bourgeois, before being purchased in 1893 by Christmas Bardac . Sold in 1918 to Gentilli di Giuseppe, passionate astronomer will install even in the gardens a giant telescope in 1922. He left the castle in 1929 and the estate was acquired by an American couple, Mac Cune. The state bought the property in 1954 and used as a school building. The town meanwhile, does appropriates in 1988 and renovated in 2000. The Franco-German High School Buc, who left the premises of the Lycée Hoche in Versailles for the new site in the fall of 1981, was built on part of the field.
http://www.frenchchateau.net/chateaux-of-ile-de-france/chateau-du-haut-buc.html

Château du Haut-Buc

The Château de Courson was built in 1676 in Courson-Monteloup (the postal code is 91680; INSEE code 91186), on the south-west outskirts of Paris, France. It is in the Essonne département of the Île-de-France région.
Originally the home of the Lamoignon family, the château has been in the same family since the 18th century. Its historic park was laid out in formal style by a pupil of André Le Nôtre in the 18th century. During the 19th century the gardens were twice remodelled, first around 1820 for the Duc de Padoue by the landscaper Berthault, then again around 1860 by the Bülhers, who laid out many French parks and gardens, including those of Rennes, Lyon and Bordeaux.
In 1985, the movie "Bring on the Night" was filmed at the château.
It is now most famous as the venue for the Journées des Plantes de Courson. These extremely popular plant fairs have been held in mid-October since 1983. Since 1987 a spring plant fair has been held in mid-May.
The castle and park are open for tours.

Château de Courson

The Château de Rambouillet, also known in English as the Castle of Rambouillet, is a château in the town of Rambouillet, Yvelines department, in the Île-de-France region in northern France, 50 km (31 mi) southwest of Paris. It was the summer residence of the Presidents of the French Republic from 1896 until 2009, and it is now managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux.
History
The château was originally a fortified manor dating back to 1368 and, although amputated of its eastern wing at the time of Napoleon, it still retains its pentagonal bastioned footprint. King Francis I died there, on 31 March 1547, probably in the imposing medieval tower that bears his name. Like the Hôtel de Rambouillet in Paris, the château was owned by Charles d'Angennes, the marquis de Rambouillet during the reign of Louis XIII. Avenues led directly from the park of the chateau into the adjacent game-rich forest. More than 200 square kilometres of forest remain, the remnant of the Forest of Rambouillet, also known as Forêt d'Yveline or Forêt de l'Yveline.
In 1783, the château became the private property of king Louis XVI, who bought it from his cousin, the duc de Penthièvre, as an extension of his hunting grounds. Queen Marie-Antoinette, who accompanied her husband on a visit in November 1783, is said to have exclaimed: "Comment pourrais-je vivre dans cette gothique crapaudière!" (How could I live in such a gothic toadhouse!) However, to induce his wife to like his new acquisition, Louis XVI commissioned in great secret the construction of the renowned Laiterie de la Reine, (the Queen's dairy), where the buckets were of Sèvres porcelain, painted and grained to imitate wood, and the presiding nymph was a marble Amalthea, with the goat that nurtured Jupiter, sculpted by Pierre Julien. A little salon was attached to the dairy itself, with chairs supplied by Georges Jacob in 1787 that had straight, tapering stop-fluted legs
During the French Revolution, the domain of Rambouillet became bien national, the chateau being emptied of its furnishings and the gardens and surrounding park falling into neglect.
During the reign of Napoleon I, Rambouillet was included in his liste civile (list of government-owned property at the disposal of the head of state). The emperor came several times to Rambouillet, the last being on the night of 29–30 June 1815, on his way to exile to Saint Helena. Among the reminders of Napoléon are the Pompeian style bathroom with its small bathtub and the exquisite balcony built to link the emperor's apartment to that of his second wife, the empress Marie-Louise. Another reminder of Napoléon was the splendid Allée de Cyprès chauves de Louisiane, a double-lined bald cypress (Taxodium distichum) avenue.
At the time of the Bourbon Restoration, Rambouillet was again included in the royal liste civile. Fifteen years after Napoleon I, Charles X's road to exile also started at Rambouillet. On 2 August 1830, he signed his abdication here in favour of his nine-year-old grandson, the Duke of Bordeaux. It took twenty minutes to talk his son, the Duke of Angoulême, into, reluctantly, countersigning the document, thus abandoning his rights to the throne of France in favor of his nephew.
From 1830 to 1848, the domain of Rambouillet, which had belonged to his grandfather, the duc de Penthièvre, was not included in Louis Philippe I's liste civile; however, begged to do so by the townspeople, the emperor Napoléon III, who reigned from 1852 to 1870, requested its inclusion in his.
After the fall of Napoleon III in 1870, which saw the beginning of the French Third Republic, the domain of Rambouillet was leased from 1870 to 1883 to the duc de la Trémoille. In February 1896, Rambouillet received a visit from President Félix Faure who then decided to spend his summers there with his family. Since, the château of Rambouillet has become the summer residence of France's Presidents of the Republic, who entertain, and used to invite to hunting parties many foreign dignitaries, princes and heads of state. As a part-time residence of the French president, it is sometimes referred to as the Palace of Rambouillet.
On 23 August 1944, two days before the liberation of Paris, General Charles de Gaulle arrived at Rambouillet and set up his headquarters in the chateau where, in the evening, he met General Philippe Leclerc who, at the head of his French 2nd Armored Division (2e Division blindée, more affectionately known in France as La Deuxième DB), had mission to liberate Paris. Part of the French 2nd Armored Division was to leave from Rambouillet at dawn the following day, on its march "to capture Paris". On August 25, around 2 p.m., "both wrought with emotion and filled with serenity", General de Gaulle left Rambouillet by car to enter "Paris libérée".
In November 1975, the first "G6" summit was organized in the château by French President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing for the heads of the world's leading industrialized countries. Attending were: Gerald Ford (United States), Harold Wilson (United Kingdom), Aldo Moro (Italy), Takeo Miki (Japan) and Helmut Schmidt (West Germany).
The château de Rambouillet continues to be used as a venue for bilateral summits and, in February 1999, was host to the negotiations on Kosovo. (See Kosovo War.)
On 26 December 1999, Hurricane Lothar hit the northern half of France, wreaking havoc to forests, parks and buildings. The Forest of Rambouillet lost hundreds of thousands of trees, and among the over five thousand downed trees in the park of Rambouillet, was the handsome, historical Allée de Cyprès chauves de Louisiane, the bald cypress avenue planted in 1810.

Château de Rambouillet

The Palace of Versailles was the principal royal residence of France from 1682 under Louis XIV until the start of the French Revolution in 1789 under Louis XVI. It is located in the department of Yvelines, in the region of Île-de-France, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) southwest of the centre of Paris.
The palace is now a Monument historique and UNESCO World Heritage site, notable especially for the ceremonial Hall of Mirrors, the jewel-like Royal Opera, and the royal apartments; for the more intimate royal residences, the Grand Trianon and Petit Trianon located within the park; the small rustic Hameau (Hamlet) created for Marie Antoinette; and the vast Gardens of Versailles with fountains, canals, and geometric flower beds and groves, laid out by André le Nôtre. The Palace was stripped of all its furnishings after the French Revolution, but many pieces have been returned and many of the palace rooms have been restored.
In 2017 the Palace of Versailles received 7,700,000 visitors, making it the second-most visited monument in the Île-de-France region, just behind the Louvre and ahead of the Eiffel Tower.

Château de Versailles

Le château des Mesnuls est un château de style Louis XIII construit en pierres et briques, situé dans la commune des Mesnuls dans les Yvelines en France.
L'importante demeure et son parc, d'abord rachetés par la société Thomson (1987) ont appartenu ensuite au groupe Thales et aujourd'hui à la société Châteauform.
Histoire
Le château s’est développé au gré de la fantaisie, de la fortune — ou de l’infortune — de ses propriétaires successifs.
En 1230 débute la construction d'un premier manoir dont il ne reste rien sous l'égide d’Ernaut des Mesnuls, qui est suivi par Jehan Gautier, Robert Duport, Jehan Dumor, en 1460 Simon de Maintenon, Jehan Niard, en 1480 Pierre Chapillard.
Les années 1535-1540 voient la construction d'un bâtiment à deux niveaux, avec une aile basse et une poterne à deux tourelles (actuelle entrée principale du château) et le creusement des douves par Christophe de Refuge, maître d’hôtel du duc d’Alençon. En 1556 il est qualifié d'un des cent gentildhommes de la Maison de Henri II ; il aura un fils prénommé Charles.
En 1575 le château est acquis par Robert de Combault, gentilhomme de la chambre du roi et capitaine des gardes de la reine 3 et son épouse, dame Louise de la Béraudière.
En 1578 il obtient des lettres patentes royales concédant "haute, moyenne et basse justice" sur sa terre, et à partir de 1580 fait édifier la partie gauche du corps de logis central.
À sa mort en 1606 le domaine est acquis par Bégnine Bernard, notaire et secrétaire d'Henri IV ; il commande la partie droite du corps de logis et augmente le domaine par des achats de terres. Le 4 juin 1620, le jeune Louis XIII vint dîner aux Mesnuls.
En 1637 le domaine est vendu à un de ses cousins, Achille Courtin, maître des requêtes de Louis XIII, et à son épouse, Jeanne Barentin ; Achille Courtin obtint du roi l'érection de la seigneurie des Mesnuls en comté.
Mais c’est à partir du xviiie siècle qu’il connaît ses plus célèbres propriétaires.
•En 1731 le Maréchal de Villars reçoit le domaine par donation faite par sa belle-mère, dame Charlotte Angélique Courtin, à sa fille, y fait exécuter des travaux de terrassement et percer dans la forêt "la trouée de Villars", visible de la grille d’honneur.
•En 1739 la maréchale de Villars vend ce bien familial à l'Irlandais Balthazar Wall, marquis de Ballinakilly, gouverneur de Ham, qui achève la construction de la façade et fait construire l’aile Est, comprenant une chapelle, ainsi que la galerie longeant toute l’aile Ouest; en 1754 son neveu Patrice, comte de Wall, maréchal de camp, en hérite.
• En 1767, achat par M. de Sallabery,
En 1776, achat par le comte Louis de Maupeou (1716-1800), lieutenant général des armées du Roi, gouverneur de Béthune, frère du chancelier de Maupeou, qui le revend en mars 1791 au suivant.
• Jean-Adrien Le Roy de Camilly, payeur des rentes de l'Hôtel de ville de Paris, achète le domaine des Mesnuls avec environ 300 hectares, qu'il agrandit, au gré de plusieurs opportunités, notamment la vente des terres de l'ancien prieuré de La Millière, en mai et juin 1791, jusqu'à quelques 700 hectares. Il fait clore la cour du château avec l'ancienne grille du château de Saint Hubert, au Perray en Yvelines, démantelé à cette époque. Puissant financier parisien, il siège au conseil d'administration de la Caisse d'Escompte avec Laborde, Lavoisier, Delessert, Necker, Le Couteulx et d'autres. Sa fortune se composant essentiellement de valeurs mobilières, il est ruiné par la dépréciation des assignats pendant la Révolution, à partir de la fin 1793 5. Lorsqu'il fait faillite, en 1799, le domaine des Mesnuls est intégralement racheté par sa belle-mère. Celle-ci, Françoise Adélaïde de Saint Hilaire, veuve de Michel Bourquenoud, contrôleur général des rentes de l'Hôtel de ville de Paris, morte en 1800, transmet le château à sa fille, Marie-Valérie Bourquenoud, morte en 1839 aux Mesnuls, épouse de Jean Adrien Le Roy de Camilly.
Cette dernière le transmet à sa fille unique, Anne Virginie Le Roy de Camilly, mariée en 1805 avec François de Nugent.
François de Nugent est sous l'Empire maire des Mesnuls et conseiller-général du canton de Montfort l'Amaury. A la première Restauration, il est nommé par Louis XVIII sous-préfet de Rambouillet, puis suit le Roi à Gand pendant les cent jours. Il mène une brillante carrière administrative durant toute la Restauration, maître des requêtes au Conseil d'Etat, préfet des Hautes-Alpes en 1815, préfet des Landes en 1819, préfet de la Sarthe en 1822, préfet de la Charente inférieure en 1823, et enfin préfet de l'Oise de 1828 à 1830.
Il est créé comte héréditaire par lettres patentes du Roi Louis XVIII, le 11 janvier 1823 et confirmé dans ce titre sur institution d'un majorat assis sur le domaine des Mesnuls, par lettres patentes du Roi Charles X, le 17 mai 1828. A la Révolution de 1830, François de Nugent se retire aux Mesnuls, entouré de sa famille, jusqu'à sa mort aux Mesnuls, en 1859.
Le domaine et le majorat passent à son fils, Charles de Nugent , auditeur au Conseil d'Etat, démissionnaire en 1830, décédé aux Mesnuls en 1881, auquel succède son, fils Richard de Nugent.
Ce dernier vend la majeure partie des terres (entre autres à la famille Guerlain) et le mobilier du château, vivant ses dernières années à "la Touretterie", en face du château, qu'il finit par vendre également en 1914.
• En 1914, achat par la comtesse de Béthune, puis par une dame Soyer, fille d’un riche carrossier parisien de l’époque, avant d’épouser un "noble" qui se révèle être un imposteur ; elle revendra le château en 1924 à Jean Chrissoveloni et à son épouse Sybil, d'origine anglaise, qui lui donneront son aspect actuel. [réf. souhaitée] Riche banquier roumain d'origine grecque — qui mourra à Bucarest fin 1926, à 43 ans —, cet homme très cultivé, parlant sept langues, fut post mortem le beau-frère de Paul Morand, époux le 3 janvier 1927 de sa non moins fortunée sœur Hélène, princesse Soutzo (1879-1975).
Le nouveau propriétaire qui séjournera souvent au château est passionné de vieilles pierres et de sculptures d’animaux fantastiques (dragons, chimères…) qu’il expose dans le parc. En 1924, il achète pour le faire rebâtir au fond de celui-ci, une partie du cloître roman datant du XIIe siècle de Saint-Genis-des-Fontaines (Pyrénées-Orientales), qui avait été vendu en 1796 comme bien national. Il apporte au château de nouveaux décors provenant des vestiges de celui de Courcelles (Sarthe) : poutres peintes au xviie siècle (vestibule, salons, chapiteaux de portes (vestibules, escalier d’honneur daté de 1643 (classé sur la liste des inventaires des Monuments Historiques). Il donne aux jardins leur aspect actuel : terrasses de pelouse et grande pièce d'eau en forme de T.
Ce couple mondain y mène grand train durant la courte période des Années folles en France et y reçoit toute la société à la mode de l’époque. Sybil Chrissoveloni survivra à son mari jusqu’en 1931 et est inhumée au cimetière communal ; leur fils Nicolas hérite du domaine mais préférera vivre en Roumanie.
Pendant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, le château est occupé par l’état-major de l’amiral Karl Dönitz, puis par les Américains jusqu’à la Libération.
En 1947 la fondation Mallet (Jacqueline), une association éducative pour enfants handicapés, est domiciliée au château, délaissé par ses propriétaires, et le château devient un centre d'apprentissage et de réadaptation fonctionnelle.
Après la mort en 1968 de Nicolas Chrissoveloni, ses héritiers ne peuvent faire face à l’entretien des Mesnuls ; en 1978, l’institution quitte le château.
On reconnaît entre autres le vestibule et l'escalier des Mesnuls dans le film franco-italien de Jean Delannoy Maigret et l'Affaire Saint-Fiacre (1959), avec Jean Gabin, inspiré du roman de Georges Simenon, qui situe le village imaginaire de Saint-Fiacre près de Moulins (Allier).
En 1987 le Groupe Thomson rachète le site et le réhabilite pour en faire un lieu d’accueil à la disposition du Groupe, mais aussi d’autres entreprises. Depuis 2008 le château est dédié à l’accueil de séminaires d’entreprise.
Architecture
Coiffé d'une haute toiture d'ardoises, le château possède des façades de briques rouges disposées en chevrons, ou verticalement, tandis que l'encadrement des fenêtres est en pierre.
Le château est constitué en partie d'éléments provenant d'autres édifices : - la grille en fer forgé provient du château de Saint-Hubert au Perray-en-Yvelines, démoli en 1785 ; - le grand escalier intérieur provient du château de Courcelles-la-Forêt dans la Sarthe ; - une partie du cloître de Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines du xiie siècle, dont les restes ont été classés au titre des monuments historiques par arrêté du 17 juillet 1924 avait été transporté dans le parc du château des Mesnuls, puis a finalement été replacé à son emplacement initial à Saint-Génis-des-Fontaines. L'ensemble retrouvé a été classé au titre des monuments historiques par arrêté du 5 mai 1975.
Les façades et toitures du château, le grand escalier intérieur et les plafonds "à la Française" du corps principal, les communs (porterie et l'orangerie), la balustrade ajourée de la grande terrasse et les bassins (bassin de la cour d'honneur, les restes du grand bassin) font l’objet d’un classement au titre des monuments historiques depuis le 7 mai 1975. Les parties non classées du château fait l’objet d’une inscription au titre des monuments historiques depuis le 16 novembre 1945.

Château des Mesnuls

The Petit Trianon, built between 1762 and 1768 during the reign of Louis XV of France, is a small château located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles in Versailles, France. The park of the Grand Trianon includes the Petit Trianon.
Design and construction
The Petit Trianon was built on the site of a botanical garden developed about a decade earlier by Louis XV, within the grounds of the Grand Trianon, Louis XIV's retreat from the Palace of Versailles to the southeast. It was designed by Ange-Jacques Gabriel by the order of Louis XV for his long-term mistress, Madame de Pompadour, and was constructed between 1762 and 1768. Madame de Pompadour died four years before its completion, and the Petit Trianon was subsequently occupied by her successor, Madame du Barry. Upon his accession to the throne in 1774, the 20-year-old Louis XVI gave the château and its surrounding park to his 19-year-old Queen Marie Antoinette for her exclusive use and enjoyment.
The château of the Petit Trianon is a celebrated example of the transition from the Rococo style of the earlier part of the 18th century, to the more sober and refined, Neoclassical style of the 1760s and onward. Essentially an exercise on a cube, the Petit Trianon attracts interest by virtue of its four facades, each thoughtfully designed according to that part of the estate it would face. The Corinthian order predominates, with two detached and two semi-detached pillars on the side of the formal French garden, and pilasters facing both the courtyard and the area once occupied by Louis XV's greenhouses. Overlooking the former botanical garden of the king, the remaining facade was left bare. The subtle use of steps compensates for the differences in level of the château's inclined location.
Marie Antoinette would come to the Petit Trianon not only to escape the formality of court life, but also to shake off the burden of her royal responsibilities. At Versailles, she was under considerable pressure and judgement from both her family and the court, and the Petit Trianon was her place of ease and leisure where she could rest from those trials. Since all was "de par la Reine" (by order of the Queen), none were permitted to enter the property without the Queen's express permission (not even, it was said, Louis XVI). Such exclusivity alienated the court nobility, which she did very willingly, since only the queen's "inner circle" (including the Princess de Lamballe, and Gabrielle de Polastron, duchesse de Polignac) were invited.
A house of intimacy and of pleasure, the building was designed to require as little interaction between guests and servants as possible. To that end, the table in the salles à manger was conceived to be mobile, mechanically lowered and raised through the floorboards so that the servants below could set places sight unseen. The tables were never built, but the delineation for the mechanical apparatus can still be seen from the foundation.
Within the queen's apartment, Marie Antoinette's need for privacy is apparent: the decor of her boudoir displays an inventiveness unique to the age, featuring mirrored panels that, by the simple turning of a crank, can be raised or lowered to obscure the windows and reflect the candlelight. Her bedroom, although simple, is also elegant in accord with her general style, provided with furniture from Georges Jacob and Jean Henri Riesener. The wallpaper was painted by Jean-Baptiste Pillement.
History after French Revolution
On 5 October 1789, Marie Antoinette was in the gardens of the Petit Trianon when a page brought news of the imminent arrival of an armed crowd from Paris. With the enforced departure of the royal family the next day the Petit Trianon was almost abandoned except for the gardeners and other staff who continued to live there. Renovations that had been underway were interrupted, leaving large sums owed to builders. The former Queen's gardener Antoine Richard was appointed as curator of the gardens and plant nursery in 1792 by the Minister of the Interior. After the final overthrow of the monarchy in July 1792, all of the furniture, art works and other valuables of the Petit Trianon were given to auction, under a decree of the Convention dated 10 June 1793. The auction began on Sunday, August 25, 1793 and continued until 11 August 1794. The properties sold were widely scattered. Silverware, lead and brass fixtures were requisitioned for use in the arsenals. The sculptor Amable Boichard was appointed in April 1794 to remove "emblems of royalty and feudalism" from the property.
Under the new Republic, the Petit Trianon underwent a number of changes. Declared national property, the land was divided into ten lots. The City of Versailles proposed that a botanical garden be established, but this plan was not adopted. In 1796, the land was leased to a tavern. By 1801, the use of the grounds for dances and festivals had led to neglect and vandalism. The buildings of the hamlet were reported to be dilapidated. Some improvements in the layout of the gardens were subsequently made and a school located in part of the complex.