Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château Perrier, built between 1852 and 1857 in Épernay by architect Eugène Cordier for the merchant Charles Nicolas Perrier, embodies the prosperity of the 19th century Champagne families. Ordered by the heir of Perrier-Jouët House (founded in 1811), this building combines private residence, reception place and space dedicated to the development of champagne. Its strategic location, near the Paris-Strasbourg line and the Royal Way, reflects its central role in the wine trade.

The castle changed hands in 1878 when Charles Perrier and his wife Octavie died, passing to their nephew Henri Gallice, who renamed him château Gallice. Passionate about hunting, Gallice installed the statue Le Veneur (1890) and saw the cellars transformed into a military hospital during the First World War. During the Second World War, the castle successively became a headquarters for the British, German and American armies, marking its strategic importance.

Acquired by the city of Epernay in 1943, the castle regains its original name and houses the municipal museum and library as early as 1945. After a renovation, he reopened in 2021 as a Champagne wine museum and regional archaeology, combining wine heritage and archaeological collections. Its eclectic architecture, combining neo-Louis XIII and Italian Renaissance, as well as its richly decorated interiors (sculptures by Michel-Victor Cruchet, marquetry floor), make it an exceptional witness to the bourgeois luxury of the 19th century.

The estate once extended to the railway, including exotic greenhouses (orchids, palm trees), rose grove and orange grove, awarded in 1848 and 1851. The cellars, dug in 1852, served both as a storage place for champagne and as a production space. Ranked a Historic Monument in 2013, the Château Perrier illustrates both the economic development of Champagne and the evolution of local museums, from wine ethnography (designed by Georges-Henri Rivière in 1960) to its current vocation.

The building is distinguished by its four facades with a variety of styles, united by a polychromy of brick and white stone, d'ardoise roofs and carved decorations. Inside, the large living room, inspired by Versailles, and the elevator installed in 1877 (one of the first privates in France) highlight the mixture of opulence and modernity. Today, the garden reduces to 7,500 m2 keeps traces of its horticultural past, while the museum's collections trace 2,000 years of regional history, from neolithic to the golden age of champagne.

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