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Origin and history

The house of the canal lords in Cepoy, also known as the canal manager's house, was built at the end of the 17th century by Nicolas Cadot, general manager of the Canal d'Orléans until 1692. Located north of the village, it initially housed the management offices of the Loing Canal, owned by the Duke of Orleans from the early eighteenth century. The building, surrounded by workshops and shops (forges, carpentry), also served as a storage and assembly place for lock doors.

Architecturally, the house consists of a long central body with curved bays, flanked by side pavilions and covered with broken roofs. Although deeply modified (cemented openings, modern additions), it retains protected elements such as its wooden staircase inscribed in the Historical Monuments in 1999. Not to be confused with the castle of Cepoy, residence of the receiver general of the canal, it illustrates the logistic organization of the royal waterways.

Today converted into a youth hostel, the house is a testament to Cepoy's strategic importance in managing the canals of Orleans and Loing. Its enclosure used to include all the technical services necessary for their maintenance, like the similar Grignon site on the Canal d'Orléans. The property now belongs to an association, thus preserving this industrial and river heritage.

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