Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Maison Rouge, located in La Bruère-sur-Loir in the Sarthe, finds its origins in the 13th or 14th century, when a cross knight built a manor on a land called sablonarii. The latter undertook to pay a symbolic fee to the lord of the Grand Perray: each year at the Saint-Martin d'hiver, he was to offer a kingtelet in cage, a bouquet of violets and a "kiss with rose" (scented cake), carrying a cart coupled with oxen and a white hake. This ritual, though picturesque, marks the documented beginnings of the estate, spent from the 16th century in the hands of the family of Rougé, then of the Savonnières by alliance.

The old castle, considered too modest and old, was destroyed in 1862 by Augustin de Jourdan de Savonnières, heir to the lineage. The present castle, built around 1880 in tuffeau and bricks, replaces the razed building, with the exception of the adjoining chapel, spared. This project is part of a desire for modernization and family prestige: the Jourdan de Savonnières family, which emerged from successive alliances with the Rougés and the Savonnières, has dominated the estate since the 17th century. Count Augustin, mayor of the commune, oversees the work from his temporary residence in the Gagnerie.

In the 20th century, the castle changed its vocation radically. In 1955, Jacques de Jourdan de Savonnières, the last heir without descendants, bequeathed the estate to the Work of the Apprentis Orphans of Auteuil. The place then became a school, Maison Saint-Martin, until 2014. After an aborted attempt to transform the Diderot Éducation group (2018-2022) into a boarding school, marked by controversy over the quality of the works, the castle was bought in 2024 by Giles Corbin. The latter plans to open in a hotel for 2025, after renovation.

The archives reveal a succession of influential owners, from medieval crusaders to royal ship captains (such as Charles de Savonnières, captain of the King's ships in the 17th century), to local mayors (Jacques de Jourdan, mayor from 1954 to 1955). The chapel, the only vestige of the old castle, and family documents testify to this turbulent history, mixing feudal duties, noble alliances and modern reconversions.

The area also illustrates the economic and social changes of the region: d − a seigneurial fief in the hands of the Rougé (XVI century), then of the Savonnières (1620-1832), he passed to the Jourdan-Savonnières until 1955, before serving an educational cause. The archives even mention, in 1906, a tutor and six servants in the service of the family, reflecting the aristocratic lifestyle of the time. Today, its transformation into a hotel is part of a dynamic of heritage and tourist development.

External links