Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The château de Groussay was built in 1815 for Henriette Adélaïde du Bouchet de Sourches, duchess of Charost, daughter of the governess of the children of Louis XVI. Located in Montfort-l'Amaury, it embodies the elegance of the Restoration with a regular park and a central water room. The Duchess received the Duchess of Angoulême in 1832, before her death in 1835. The estate then passes into the hands of Countess Julie de Pahlen, who welcomes Napoleon III and Empress Eugénie.

In 1938, Charles de Beistegui, a Mexican and Spanish aesthetist, acquired the unprotected castle and transformed it radically between 1945 and 1970. It adds two wings, a theatre with Italian, a ballroom called "Dutch", and redesigned the 30-hectare park with factories inspired by 18th-century Anglo-Chinese gardens, such as the Tartare Tent or the Chinese Pagoda. These arrangements, made with architect Emilio Terry and painter Alexandre Serebriakoff, combine neo-classicism and post-modern fantasy.

The castle became a fabulous reception place, welcoming personalities such as the Comédie-Française for the inauguration of the theatre in 1957. After Beistegui's death in 1970, the estate was sold in 1999, and its furniture was dispersed at a historic auction. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1993, it is now closed to the public for work, after having served as a decoration for films (such as Valmont de Miloš Forman) and television shows (The Best Pastry).

The interiors retain emblematic elements such as the Goya-inspired tapestry gallery, the Russian lounge, or the spiral double staircase library. The park, with its factories (Pont Palladien, Temple of Love), illustrates the eclecticism of Beistegui, between historical heritage and bold creation. Since 2016, cultural initiatives (theatre, exhibitions) have tried to revive this place, despite its current closure.

The château of Groussay thus symbolizes two epochs: that of the Restoration, with its royal heritage, and that of the 1950s-1970s, marked by the eccentricity of a passionate patron. Its history reflects the changes in taste, between aristocratic tradition and decorative avant-garde, while remaining anchored in the French cultural landscape.

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