Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Château de Dampierre, located in the Chevreuse valley in Dampierre-en-Yvelines (Yvelines, Île-de-France), is a classical building built between 1675 and 1685 by Jules Hardouin-Mansart for Charles Honoré d'Albert, Duke of Chevreuse and son-in-law of Colbert. It replaces a medieval mansion burned in 1358 and then modernized in the Renaissance, notably by Cardinal Charles de Lorraine in 1551, who had commissioned frescoes by Francesco Salviati. The estate, surrounded by moats and equipped with a park designed by André Le Nôtre, became an aristocratic residence frequented by Louis XIV and Louis XV.

The castle remained in the family of Albert de Luynes from 1663 to 2018, undergoing major transformations in the nineteenth century under the direction of Félix Duban for Duke Honoré Théodoric. The latter had a neo-antiquistic gallery decorated with paintings commissioned from Ingres (including the late Golden Age) and a polychrome reconstruction of the statue of Athena Parthenos by Phidias. The library, rich in 18,500 volumes including medieval manuscripts and family archives, was dispersed at auction in 2013.

Ranked a historic monument in 2022 after its acquisition in 2018 by entrepreneur Franky Mulliez, the castle is the object of a vast restoration project, considered one of the most important in Europe for a private monument. The park, reopened in 2019, offers tours and business space rentals. The site was also used as a setting for many films, including Ridicule (1996) and Marie-Antoinette (2006).

The architecture combines Renaissance elements (tourelles, moats) with a rigorous classicism, with symmetrical facades, a monumental perron and richly decorated interiors. The stables, decorated with horse heads and cervids by Ligier Richier, and orangery (1765) complete this remarkable ensemble. The castle illustrates the evolution of aristocratic tastes, from Renaissance fascists to 19th-century romantic restorations.

Among the missing treasures are a statue of Louis XIII in silver by François Rude (floured in 1985) and collections of natural history exhibited in the Hall of the Astria, decorated with paintings inspired by the eponymous novel of Honoré d The gardens, in the process of reconstitution, were to return to their original French style, with gardens, canals and pavilions inspired by Italy.

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