Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de La Houssaye-en-Brie was originally built in the Middle Ages, probably dating back to the 12th or 13th centuries. Originally a strong house, it became a pleasure home in the 17th and 18th centuries, surrounded by wood and embellished by its successive owners. The estate was deeply transformed in 1801 by Marshal Augereau, who also welcomed Napoleon I in 1807. Augereau died there in 1816, leaving an architectural heritage marked by defensive elements such as a carved dungeon and vestiges of drawbridge.

In the 19th century, the castle passed through a period of decline, especially during the inter-war period, where it was left to abandon. From 1940, industrialist Jacques Bellanger began his restoration and made it a reception place for artists. The estate, which includes a park inscribed in the Historic Monuments, preserves traces of its medieval past, such as a round tower reminiscent of the manors of the era, as well as a dovecote and grooves of the old drawbridge.

The castle is closely linked to local history, with characters such as Étienne Jodelle, poet of the Pleiade and lord of Limodin in the 16th century, or Arletty, who stayed there during the Second World War. The manor house of Limodin, also registered, and the priory Saint-Martin, founded in the 18th century, complete this rich heritage. The commune, located in Brie Boisée, thus combines seigneurial history, defensive architecture and residential transformations, reflecting the social and political evolutions of the region since the Middle Ages.

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