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Origin and history

The Château de Chevilly, located in the Loiret in the Centre-Val de Loire region, finds its origins in the 2nd quarter of the 18th century under the impulse of Nicolas Hatte, receiver general of finance under Louis XV. In 1732 he built a new castle on an estate inherited from his uncle, replacing a 17th century bourgeois house. Hatte transferred the chapel to the right wing and enriched the building with sculptures, paintings and woodwork. When he died in 1738, the estate moved to his heir, Charles Robert Hatte, who sold it in 1753 to Étienne de Silhouette, a controversial figure of the Court, returned in 1759 for his bold tax reforms.

In 1763 the Marquis Jean-François-Claude Perrin de Cypierre, intendant of Orléans, acquired Chevilly and made him a symbol of his social ambition. He obtained the erection of the estate in Barony in 1764, renamed the nearby parish Chevilly in 1766 (formerly Andeglou), and abolished the local chapels to centralize the cult in that of the castle. Passionate about the Enlightenment, he modernized the gardens with architect Jean-Benoît-Vincent Barré, created a sophisticated vegetable garden with thermoregulated pools, and tried — without success — to set up a spinning plant there. His influence declined after 1787, and he died in 1790 at the dawn of the Revolution.

The 19th century saw the castle pass into the hands of aristocratic families (Parseval, Montpinson) and suffered damage during the Franco-German war of 1870, with Chevilly standing on the front line. In the 20th century, it was occupied in turn by the Germans (Wehrmacht in 1941, using the park to repair machinery) and the Allies (General Patton stayed there in 1944). Pillows and degradations mark this period, although objects were saved by the villagers. In 1949, engineer André Patricot became its owner before the Bazin de Caix family inherited in the 21st century, occasionally opening the estate to the public.

Architecturally, the castle blends classicism and sobriety, with local limestone facades, Mansarde roofs, and a chapel classified as Historic Monument in 1965 for its rocky woodwork. The 22-hectare park, designed in French by Orléan architect Jamin, includes converging paths, a technical vegetable garden, and an 18th-century statutory ensemble representing the four continents, acquired in 1905. Among the remarkable outbuildings are a 20-metre deep cooler (rare in France) and stables with pediluvius, testimonies of the past.

Conflicts left traces: in 1870, fighting between French and Prussian armies damaged the building, while in 1939-1945, its proximity to Bricy's air base made it a strategic issue. Despite these trials, the castle retains original elements such as the Allée Madame (a tribute to the Marquise of Pompadour), the court of honor with its flowered floor, and monumental statues, including a representative of Europe surrounded by symbols of the Lights. Today, the estate illustrates the evolution of pleasure castles, between seigneurial power, agricultural innovations, and preserved heritage.

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