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Key figures

Origin and history

The manor house of La Bouverie, located in Mardilly in the department of Orne in Normandy, is a house of the early seventeenth century, built in 1604 under the reign of Henri IV. This Henri IV style castle, characterized by its four corner peppers and its facades in bricks and ochre sandstone stones (called a red-head), replaces an old stronghold. Its elegance comes from the perfect symmetry of its main façade, rhythmized by blind windows and bays adorned with straight lintels and aisles. Martin de Rupierre, seigneur of Mardilly, is the sponsor, inspired by the great houses he met on his journeys.

The construction of the mansion, although modest in size, uses noble and expensive materials, leading Martin de Rupierre to alienate part of his land despite the important dowry of his wife, Catherine de Hudebert. The mansion then passes into the hands of several families, including the Périers and the Maureys, who do not reside there but retain its use. At the Revolution, the castle, confiscated as a national property, was sold in 1793 under the name of the Bouverie mansion, after losing its title as Mardilly castle. It is then attached to a nearby farm and dismembered in several lots.

In the 19th and 20th centuries, the mansion changed owners several times, including the Fressonnel, Rault, and Pottier families. In 1918, Joseph Michel Pottier bought it for 41,000 francs, and his brother René François, settled in 1928 with his wife Marie Grandin, saved the home from ruin after decades of abandonment. The Dangelzer family, owner from 1973 onwards, undertook important restoration work, notably on the roofs, giving the monument its former splendor. Since 2019, a new owner has organized events and opened the mansion to the public.

Architecturally, the manor is distinguished by its two-level rectangular housing body, flanked by four cylindrical turrets in corbelled with campaniform roofs in slate. The main façade, facing to the east, has a regular ordinance with windows aligned on a bandeau, pink brick allegations, and a perron leading to a door framed by bosses. The attic, pierced by three triangular pediments, rests on a cornice with consoles evoking a mâchicoulis. In the back, a water ditch recalls the ancient moat surrounding the feudal moth.

The estate includes outbuildings such as a barn, a washhouse and a bakery, although other cadastral elements in 1850 disappeared. The nearby mill, located on an arm of the Touques, does not belong to the property but to the Comtat de Gacé. The Bouverie Manor House, which has been classified as part of the historical monuments since 1968 for its facades and roofs, bears witness to Norman history, the League's conflicts, revolutionary upheavals, and its resilience thanks to dedicated owners.

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