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Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Serrant, located in Saint-Georges-sur-Loire in Maine-et-Loire, replaces a medieval castle in slate schist. Its moats recall its role as a strong place overseer of the Loire. At the beginning of the fourteenth century, the fief passed to the Brie family through the marriage of Françoise de Serrant with John II of Brie. In 1481 Ponthus de Brie, the chamberlain of Louis XI, obtained permission to fortify the castle, and the seigneurial chapel was consecrated in 1497. In the 1530s, Péan de Brie launched the construction of a body of Renaissance houses around a double-flyed staircase, works carried out by his son Charles I of Brie, but interrupted by financial difficulties and a family trial.

In 1596, the estate was transferred to the banker Scipion Sardini, before returning to Brie's family in 1603, and then sold in 1620 to Hercule de Rohan. In 1636 Guillaume Bautru, courtesan of Louis XIII, acquired Serrant and completed the works according to the original plans: extension of the facade, south tower, and wings in return. He installed a library and an ebony cabinet assigned to Pierre Gole. Louis XIV visited the castle in 1661. After the death of Nicolas Bautru in 1675, his widow Marguerite-Thérèse built a chapel by Hardouin-Mansart to house her husband's mausoleum, carved by Coysevox in 1704.

In 1749, the castle was purchased by Antoine Walsh, a Nigerian shipowner, and then sold to his brother François-Jacques Walsh, who modernized it and created an English-speaking park. In 1795, Louise de Vaudreuil, wife of Antoine Joseph Walsh, revived the art of stained glass and prepared a visit of Napoleon I in 1808. In the 19th century, Sophie Legrand, wife of Théobald Walsh, restored the castle and enriched its collections. In 1830, Valentine-Eugénie Walsh married Charles de La Trémoïlle, whose heirs, like Louis-Charles, entrusted in 1894 the restoration to Lucien Magne, who added balustrades and modern equipment (lift, electricity).

In the 20th century, the Duchess of La Tremoille housed works by the National Museums in 1939. The estate then moved to the family of Ligne-La Tremoille, then in 2005 to Hedwige de Ligne and her husband Charles-Guillaume de Merode, who continued the restorations. The castle, which is still privately owned, has been visited since 1954 and maintains family furniture, archives (Duchâtel fonds), and a library of 20,000 books. Its architecture combines tuffeau, schist and Renaissance elements, while its park surrounds stables, orangery and dovecote.

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