A little history of la Motte-Tilly castle
And also
The tops
In the Middle-Ages, a fortress was built here on a feudal clod, the motte. This place was probably planted with "lime trees", those tilly (from French word tilleul)...
The land fell to the Trainel family (12th-14th century), then to Jean Raguier in 1470: his heirs kept the castle until the end of the 16th century...
In 1748, the two brothers Terray, councillors in Paris Parliament, owned the estate. At that time, the castle looked like an austere stronghold: new owners didn't like it at all!!
So they asked architect François-Nicolas Lancret to build a brand new house: the building site began in 1754.
When Joseph-Marie Terray died in 1778, the castle fell to his nephew Antoine-Jean. This one transformed the formal garden into a landscaped park and also redecorated the castle.
But Antoine-Jean didn't want to emigrate during the French Revolution: ouch, big mistake... He was arrested in 1793 and guillotined in 1794...
La Motte was sold and plundered: even Cossacks occupied the place in 1814! Parquet was burnt in order to warm up soldiers... but one wing entirely burnt!
In 1910, la Motte was restored when count of Rohan-Chabot, Terray's ancestor, owned the estate.