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A little history of Chamarande estate

The estate | Damien Salvatore / CC-BY-SA
Garden Castle Chamarande castle

A brick and stone castle

This castle was raised in 1654 by architect Nicolas de l'Epine, for Pierre Mérault, Louis XIV's councillor. It was surrounded by moats (in which we used to fish).

Several owners added their own elements: duke of Persigny added stained glass windows in the chapel in the reign of Napoleon III; Antoine Boucicaut created a Neo-Renaissance dining-room.

The estate fell to the Ornaison-Talaru family, in 1685. In 1739, marquis Louis de Talaru wanted to relay out the garden. The man was rich, so... let's go!

Architect Pierre Contant d'Ivry began the building site in 1755. Who was this Contant?

A famous architect requested by duke of Orléans and prince of Soubise and who popularized Rocaille style.

He relaid out place Vendôme in Paris, rebuilt castles of Isle-Adam, Stors and Bizy.

In Chamarande, he destroyed the old drawbridge and replaced it by a nice iron gate.

He also redecorated apartments with light panelling...

Gardens

Oh, the gorgeous gardens! Here, we have landscaped garden with elements created by the landscaper and painter Hubert Robert, in the 18th century, and a formal garden designed by Contant...

The architect also created the canal, the vegetable plot, the orangery, an artificial cascade, the belvedere, the artificial lake...

Finally, the cold room where they stocked ice in winter in order to make ice creams in summer!

Because in the 18th century, people loved sorbets! And here, our lords ate much : the cold room could house 140 tons of ice!

About the the author

Vinaigrette
I'm fond of strolls and History, with juicy and spicy details!