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Origin and history

Grosbois Castle, located in Boissy-Saint-Léger in Val-de-Marne, is a Renaissance building built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Its architecture, influenced by Jacques Androuet du Cerceau, is distinguished by a U-shaped plane with a central body curved in exhedron, flanked by two low wings. The estate, originally royal land, was acquired in 1563 by Raoul Moreau, treasurer of the Savings, before being given in dowry to his daughter Marie, wife of Nicolas de Harlay de Sancy. The latter had the central house erected in 1597, works continued by his son-in-law, Baron Nicolas Harlay de Sancy, Superintendent of Finance and owner of the famous diamond eponymous.

In the 17th century, the castle passed into the hands of the Harlay family and was sold in 1616 to Charles de Valois, Duke of Angoulême, who completed it around 1640. The latter ordered a wall decoration for his chamber of honour, attributed to Horace Le Blanc, and built the wall of the enclosure and the wings of the courtyard. Upon his death in 1650, the estate was transferred to his granddaughter, the Duchess of Joyeuse, before being sold in 1718 to Samuel-Jacques Bernard, then to various owners including the Count of Provence, future Louis XVIII, who lived there until his exile.

During the Revolution, the castle was confiscated as a national property and bought in 1797 by Barras, before being sold in 1801 to General Moreau, then in 1805 to Marshal Berthier. The latter made important interior improvements, including the Galerie des Batailles and the Salon de l'Empereur, and expanded the estate into a prestigious hunting spot. After Berthier's death in 1815, the castle remained in its offspring until 1914, when it was ceded to the La Tour d'Auvergne-Lauraguais family. During the Second World War, it will house the headquarters of the Luftwaffe and serve as a stage for several films.

In 1962, the castle and its 450-hectare estate were acquired by the Société d'encouragement à l'élevation du Cheval Français to set up a training centre for horse racing. Since 2010, it has also been home to the trot museum, Europe's largest. The castle, classified and listed as historical monuments on several occasions (1933, 1948, 1964, 2014), preserves remarkable elements such as 17th-century murals, the Regency Salon, and 19th-century amenities.

The architecture of the castle, made of brick and stone, combines a main house with two wings in return, with agricultural parts built before 1616. The modifications of the openings around 1730 and the interior transformations of Marshal Berthier, such as the library and gallery of the Battles, testify to the stylistic and functional evolutions of the monument. The park, surrounded by walls and equipped with a cynegetic tower, completes this major historical ensemble of Île-de-France.

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