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Origin and history

The Château d'Arnouville, located in Val-d'Oise, was built between 1751 and 1757 for Jean-Baptiste de Machault d'Arnouville, minister of Louis XV (controller general of finances, keeper of seals, then secretary of state for the Marine). Designed by architects Pierre Contant d'Ivry and Jean-Michel Chevotet, it was to replace a family pavilion inherited in 1750. The project, with a pharaonic cost of £4 million, included a public square inspired by Place Vendôme and a hydraulic machine to power the gardens. The works, interrupted after Machault's disgrace in 1757, left the castle unfinished: only the eastern wing, the chapel (sarrazine vault cupola) and orangery were completed.

During the Revolution, the castle was seized in 1794 after the death of Machault, imprisoned for his ties with the Ancien Régime. His heirs, including his sons Louis (former bishop) and Armand (count of Arnouville), lived there until the early 19th century. In 1815 Louis XVIII stopped there when he returned from exile, an event mentioned by Chateaubriand. In the 19th century, the estate changed hands several times: Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1872) dismantled her ironworks and transferred them to the Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey, before the site became a therapeutic horticultural centre in the 20th century.

The architecture mixes classicism with innovations, such as the chapel with a brick dome (a rare technique north of the Loire) or orangery decorated with a doric order. The stables, destroyed, and the original entrance gate (flyed by Rothschild) bear witness to the loss of property. Partially classified as Historic Monuments in 2000, the castle now houses the Pierre Male ITEP, dedicated to special education. Its park, once extended to Garges-lès-Gonesse, was set up in the 20th century to build the Muette district.

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