Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Reine Blanche, located in Coye-la-Forêt, has its origins in the 13th century under the name of Loge de Viarmes. Built by Pierre de Chambly, lord of Viarmes, this house flanked by four turrets was initially used as a seigneurial residence. Although the legend associates the place with Blanche de Castille, it has never occupied it, the building does not exist yet during its lifetime. The estate, close to the royal castles of Asnières-sur-Oise and Royaumont, was nevertheless frequented by the court.

In the 15th century, the estate passed into the hands of Jean de Boulainvilliers, then of the Duke Louis I of Orléans, before being ceded to the Celestines of Paris in 1406, then to the Abbey of Royaumont in 1412. The Loge de Viarmes, accompanied by a tan mill then with sheets, becomes a strategic place for the exploitation of the Commeles ponds, built from the 13th century by the Abbey of Chaalis. These ponds, divided into four distinct water bodies, served as fish pools and fed local mills.

In 1655, Toussaint Rose, secretary of Louis XIV, acquired the estate and tried to restore the Lodge, then in poor condition. After his death in 1701, the estate was bought by the Bourbon-Condé family, which used it as a lodging for the mill until 1788. Guillaume Mandrou de Villeneuve, owner of Coye Castle, turned him into a stationery at the end of the 18th century, before he changed his hands several times.

The major transformation took place in 1825 when Louis VI Henri de Bourbon-Condé, inspired by his stay in England, entrusted architect Victor Dubois with the renovation of the building in a neo-Gothic style pioneer in France. The sculptors Boichard and Thierry adorn the facade with statues of knights, gargoyles and balustrades. Interior, composed of a living room and a vaulted dining room, mimics the walls and medieval hangings. The castle then became a princely hunting rendezvous, welcoming in particular Elizabeth of Austria in 1882.

Ranked a historic monument in 1989, the White Queen's Castle illustrates the romantic rediscovery from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Although its interior decor is now degraded and not accessible to the public, it remains a unique architectural testimony, linked to the history of Commelles ponds and the Chantilly forest. Its early Gothic style makes it an archetype of the genre, widely represented in the romantic iconography of the era.

External links