Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Fontaine-la-Soret, also known as Château de la Carogère, is a neoclassical building built between 1764 and 1769 on the initiative of Alexander Estienne d'Augny, a farmer general of Louis XV. The latter, responsible for developing trade between Paris and the ports of the English Channel, built this castle on the Paris-Caen Royal Road, halfway between the two cities. The estate includes from the beginning a 12-hectare park, built between 1764 and 1772 with French-style gardens, groves and bicentennial beech alignments. The castle replaces an earlier building destroyed for the occasion, while the communes, rides and concierge pavilions are built simultaneously.

When Alexander d'Augny died in 1798, the estate passed to his cousin Nicolas d'Augny, then by inheritance to Joseph Pierre de Revilliasc and his nephew Charles de Revilliasc, who retained it until 1858. That year, the Count and the Countess of Eprémesnil became owners of it before selling it to Louis de Clercq in 1869. In the 19th century, landscaper Victor Crombez transformed the lower part of the park into a romantic garden, with ponds and waterfalls, near a 16th century cottage. The domain remains an aristocratic place of life, marked by successive adjustments reflecting the tastes of each era.

In the 20th century, the park was radically redesigned by two renowned landscapers. In the 1960s, the English Russell Page redesigned the terraces, created a water garden and a flower garden, and restructured the perspectives, although his work remained unfinished. In the 1980s Louis Benech completed these transformations, preserving the balance between classical and romantic parts. The castle, which has been listed as a historical monument since 1986, and its park (classified as a protected natural site and labeled as a remarkable garden in 2014), today testify to this rich architectural and landscape history.

The architecture of the castle, sober and neoclassical, is distinguished by its body of square houses flanked by two wings, its facades in stone and brick, and its mansarded roof in slate. Dependencies, such as the ride (with its inverted hull frame) or commons, house historical collections about local life and the estate. The park, divided into three areas (classic gardens, 20th century compositions and romantic garden), offers perspectives on the Risle Valley and the village. During the Second World War, the outbuildings even served as a school for the children of the bombed villages.

Protected for its facades, roofs, and interior elements (chapel, salons, galleries), the castle is also remarkable for its former presbytery (during the period of the Management Board) and its pleasant cottage. Fence walls, gates and historic alleys are also preserved. The estate illustrates the evolution of landscape tastes, from the Enlightenment to the 20th century, while remaining anchored in its Norman territory, between the Royal Road and the Risle Valley.

External links