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Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Bruneterie was a mansion built between 1881 and 1884 for Amélie-Louise Gruter, widow of Henri Sainton, on the ruins of an old 18th century family castle. Located in Orgeval (Yvelines), it occupied the top of a hill overlooking the village. The estate included an orangery built in 1860 and a 5-hectare park designed by landscaper Edward André, mixing English gardens, factories and water parts.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the castle was used as a hiding place for a kirsch bonbon, found in 1930. In 1940, it housed a stock of illegal weapons. Acquired in 1991 by the municipality for 700,000 francs, the castle, left abandoned, was destroyed in 2017 to give way to a kiosk and parking. Only the guardian's dwelling, transformed into a music school, remained.

Architecturally, the manor house was distinguished by its housing body covered with dardian roofs, its base in ochre and yellow grinding stone, and its bichrome facades in stone and red coating. A western terrace, adorned with a ironwork awning with volutes and dog heads, was complete. The park, now reduced to a meadow, has lost its original features.

The estate passed into the hands of the Foisil family before its acquisition by the commune. Its history reflects the transformation of a private heritage into a public space, marked by episodes of war, abandonment and partial conversion.

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