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Origin and history

The Château de la Rivière-Bourdet, built in the 17th century, replaces a first 13th century castle built by Étienne Bourdet, whose name remains associated with the estate. In the 15th century, the seigneury passed into the hands of Jean Durand, trading Rouennais, then to the parliamentary family of the Maignard de Bernières, which kept it until 1734. The castle was looted in 1570 and rebuilt around 1620 by Charles II Maignard de Bernières. Voltaire stayed there in 1724, invited by the Marquise de Bernières, and partially wrote Mariamne and La Henriade.

In 1734, the estate was transferred by alliance to Jacques du Moucel de Lorailles, president of the Normandy Parliament. Under the Restoration, he belonged to the Duchess of Fitz-James, and Honoré de Balzac stayed there in 1834-1835, inspiring him to describe Rosembray Castle in Modeste Mignon. The castle, passed by inheritance to the families of Montholon-Sémonville and then Brillet de Candé, was damaged in 1944 during World War II. It then served as a school camp, then as a retirement home (1966-1995), before becoming a private property.

Architecturally, the castle, restored around 1865 by the Princess of Montholon-Sémonville, preserves neoclassical stables today in ruins. Its facades and roofs, as well as those of the dovecote dating from 1668, have been protected since 1934. The charter of the estate, covering the period 1206-1862, is kept in the departmental archives of Seine-Maritime. The site, although private, bears witness to a major historical and literary heritage in Normandy.

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