Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Poterie is a Nantes madness built at the end of the eighteenth century on the banks of the Erdre, in the Louis XVI style. Commanded by the Vanasse family, the Nantes shipowners allied with the Clanchy and Freslon, he embodied the opulence of Nantes traders and shipowners at that time. The architect Jean-Baptiste Ceineray drew the plans, integrating the estate into a river landscape popular with the aristocracy and the rising bourgeoisie.

Originally, the fief belonged to the Mocquard family in the 17th century, which was a native merchant linked to the Grilleau de La Vinaudière. René Mocquard, Sieur de la Poterie, held municipal office as a miseur and then achevin de Nantes. The estate then passed by inheritance to the Vanasses, themselves related to Irish nobles (Clanchy) and the Freslon family, reflecting the strategic alliances of the local elites.

In 1850, the widow Freslon owned it before Louis Lespervier acquired it. Three years later, in 1863, the castle and its 100 hectares were sold to Louis Auguste Levesque, whose son Rogatien installed a famous kennel there. This transformation illustrates the evolution of the uses of seigneurial domains in the 19th century, between aristocratic heritage and new activities such as dog breeding.

The castle remains an architectural testimony of the Nantes madnesses, these marinas built by the sea fortunes of Nantes. Its history thus combines colonial trade, municipal power and social changes, typical of the Loire-Atlantique between the former régime and industrial revolution.

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