Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Bonnemare Castle is a Renaissance residence built from the 4th quarter of the 16th century, on the site of a former medieval mansion in Radepont (Eure, Normandy). Acquisé in 1555 by Nicolas Le Conte, seigneur of Draqueville – then president of the Parliament of Normandy – the site is profoundly redesigned: construction of the house, the entrance castle, a Greek cross chapel inspired by Philibert Delorme, and farm buildings. The legend combines the place with Raoul de Bonnemare, character of the Lai des Deux-Amants de Marie de France, although this medieval occupation remains hypothetical.

In the 17th century, Étienne de Fieux acquired the estate in 1637 and modernized the communes in 1668, including the monumental press (levier of 8 meters) and the cider cellar. The original snout windows are then replaced by classic small tiles. The castle then passed into the hands of the Cromelin de Villette family, then of Charles Le Blond in the 18th century, before being bought in the 19th century by bourgeois owners: the banker Louis Alexandre, the merchant Louis Cavelan, and finally the Parisian notary Gustave Gatine in 1888, ancestor of the present owners.

The architecture mixes Renaissance elements (framework towers "to the Philibert Delorme", vaulted staircase in a cradle) and classic additions (lounge XVI lounges, kitchen with rock-turner attributed to Leonardo da Vinci). The chapel, restored in the 20th century, received an award from the Friends of V.M.F. In 1991–92, part of the estate is classified or listed in the Historical Monuments: the castle (outside the north wing), the chestnut, the chapel, and all the communes (granges, stables, press). Since 2006, the site has been open on an ad hoc basis (Heritage Days) and offers prestigious accommodation.

The castle remains a testimony of Norman architectural evolution, from Renaissance fascists to agricultural transformations of the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries. Its press of 1668, exceptional in its size, illustrates the economic importance of cidric production in the Vexin. In 2017, he hosted an international painting competition, highlighting his contemporary cultural anchor.

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