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Origin and history

The Château de la Marche, located in Marnes-la-Coquette (Hautes-de-Seine), is mentioned for the first time in the 15th century. At the beginning of the 18th century it belonged to Michel Chamillart, minister of Louis XIV, who used it as stables for his estate in the Étang. After the disgrace of Chamillart in 1709, the estate was sold, and the castle of the Etang destroyed. The financier John Law became its owner in 1718, before Queen Marie-Antoinette acquired it in 1785 to annex it to the Château de Saint-Cloud.

Sold as a national property in 1794, the estate was transformed into a racetrack (1851-1898) before hosting an ice factory in 1898. In 1914 it was divided: the eastern part became an aerated scout centre, while the western part kept the castle until its destruction in 1938. The site was then loti, becoming a stadium (tennis, football) then a real estate complex in the 21st century, shared between Crédit Agricole, the commune and the department.

The castle was linked to significant events, such as the exile of the Duchess of Angoulême (daughter of Marie-Antoinette), who took the title of Countess of Marnes after 1830. The ponds and part of the estate remain today, managed by the commune and the department of Hauts-de-Seine. The private residence of the Marche estate perpetuates its name, while social and student housing was built there in the 20th and 21st centuries.

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