Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Rothschild Castle was built between 1855 and 1861 in Boulogne-Billancourt for the banker James de Rothschild, in a neo-Louis XIV style inspired by Clagny Castle. The architect Joseph-Armand Berthelin directs the works, while Eugene Lami designs the interior decoration and Joseph Paxton (then Loyre) sets up the gardens, mixing French and English styles on 30 hectares. The estate, enlarged by the acquisition of the castle of Buchillot, becomes a prestigious reception place for the high society.

During World War II, the castle was looted by the Germans, who installed the Kriegsmarine headquarters there, and then damaged by the Americans in 1944, who used it as a transit centre. Art works, gardens (including a rare Japanese garden created by a Tokyoist horticulturalist) and interior decorations disappear. Upon his return, the Rothschild family, who had lost his French nationality under Vichy, abandoned the estate.

After the war, the park was partially expropriated to build the Ambroise-Paré Hospital (1969), while the castle, sold in 1986 to a Saudi Sheikh, fell into ruins despite its classification at the Historical Monuments in 1997. Two fires (1994, 2003) aggravated its degradation. In 2016, the Novaxia group purchased the site and launched a restoration project, with an exceptional opening at the 2017 Heritage Days. Work, originally planned for 2020, is postponed to 2026.

The park, reduced to 15 hectares, is now a public space preserving historical elements such as the water room, remarkable trees (including a two-hundred-year-old linden) and remnants of French and Japanese gardens. Buchillot Castle, a former domain pavilion, has been home to the Paul Belmondo Museum since 2010. The main castle, despite its critical state, remains a symbol of the Franco-Israeli heritage and the golden age of the Rothschilds.

Architecturally, the castle is distinguished by its 120-metre clear stone facades, its balconies inspired by Versailles (red marble of Languedoc), and its mansarded roof pierced with d-oculi. Inside, the large gallery served living rooms, library and dining rooms, while the floors housed family apartments. The side pavilions, made of brick and stone, completed the whole, now partially destroyed.

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