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Origin and history

The Manor House of La Chaslerie, located in Domfront en Poirairee (former commune of La Haute-Chapelle, Orne), is an architectural complex built between the 14th and 18th centuries. It consists of a main house dated 1598, flanked by two pepper towers, a closed courtyard, a 14th century castral chapel dedicated to Saint Anne, and outbuildings ( stables, dovecote, press). The defensive character of the manor, marked by a wall of shooting bench pierced by arquebusières (regence of Marie de Medici), reflects the disturbances of the Wars of Religion. The property, surrounded by moat and crenellated walls, illustrates the evolution of a Norman seigneury between the Middle Ages and modern times.

Until the Revolution, the mansion belonged to the Ledin family, the Viscounts of Domfront, who exercised a marked local influence. A member of this family, manager of the interests of Minister Sully at Lonlay Abbey, built the house in 1598. The Ledins were illustrated by strategic alliances and the control of the Church of Notre-Dame-sur-l'Eau in Domfront, where their weapons and funerary slabs (one of which lay in armor, unique in the Orne) bear witness to their power. In 1789 the son-in-law of the Ledins, Louis-Marie de Vassy, deputy of the nobility to the General States, emigrated, resulting in the sale of the mansion as a national good. The Levêque family, the robins of Saint-Mars-d.

The manor house, classified and inscribed in the Historical Monuments (1926 to 1995), preserves remarkable elements: a dome porch with imperial domes, nobility ball chimneys (tax symbol under the Old Regime), and wall paintings in the chapel. The outbuildings, including a 19th century supply and a pear cellar (1762), reflect the economic life of the Norman bocage. Since 1991, restoration works have been carried out to preserve the site, while the association La SVAADE (founded in 2020) organizes cultural shows inspired by Schubertiades, combining heritage and artistic creation.

The visit of the mansion is open to the public: the outside is accessible free of charge, while the interior is discovered by appointment (collective visits paid for). The site, still inhabited, embodies the transition between medieval fortress and seigneurial residence, while at the same time bearing witness to the social changes of Normandy, from the wars of Religion to the Revolution. The chapel, moats and agricultural buildings form a typical "village" of the bocage, where feudal history is mixed with local traditions (production of calvados, pear).

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