Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of Angervilliers, located in the present department of Essonne, has its origins in the 14th century under Elizabeth d'Angervilliers, who made it its residence. In the 16th century, he passed into the hands of Anne de Pisseleu, Duchess of Etampes and favorite of Francis I. The estate, then center of seigneurial justice, today preserves only its H-shaped press, partially restored to house administrative and cultural premises.

At the beginning of the 17th century, Jacques-Auguste de Thou, President of the Paris Parliament, became owner of the estate before ceding it to Jacques Bouhier de Beauregard. His heir, Edward Ollier de Nointel, greatly expanded the land. The castle was then passed on to Prosper Bauyn, a member of Parliament, and then to his son Nicolas-Prosper, Minister of War under Louis XV. He bequeathed him to his daughter Jeanne Bauyn, succeeding wife of the Marquis de Maisons and the Duke of Ruffec, son of the famous memorialist Saint-Simon.

The estate experienced a blissful period in the 18th century, welcoming figures of the Enlightenment like Madame de Récamier, intimate friend of Madame de Catellan, owner of the premises. Writers such as Chateaubriand or Benjamin Constant may have stayed there, although this remains hypothetical. The castle, surrounded by a park designed by Le Nôtre and fed by underground aqueducts, was gradually transformed: the 17th century building disappeared in 1815, replaced by a "Rose Castle", itself modified by Counts Sapia de Lencia.

In the 20th century, the estate changed hands several times, including those of Lazare Weiller, who built a mansion there. During the Second World War, he was requisitioned by the Todt organization and then by the Allies. Abandoned after the war, it was acquired by Gustave Leven (Family of Perrier Waters) before being partially bought by the commune in 1983. Today, the orangery (1682) and the dovecote, registered in the Historical Monuments since 1985, house the town hall and the municipal library.

The site, known as the "Three Columns Domain" by urban explorers, bears witness to a rich but fragile heritage. The remains of the communes, the pieces of water and the traces of the developments of Le Nôtre recall its prestigious past, between seigneurial power, worldly life and successive architectural transformations.

External links