Origin and history
The Pontchartrain Castle, mentioned as Pontem Cartonencem as early as 1325, was originally a medieval mansion. In the 16th century, a new home replaced the old home, before being acquired in 1598 by Antoine de Buade de Frontenac, then sold in 1609 to the Phelypeaux family. Paul Phelypeaux, king's adviser in 1610, founded Pontchartrain's branch of this line, which will retain the estate for nearly two centuries. His son, Louis I Phélypeaux, undertook between 1633 and 1662 the construction of the main buildings, although the attribution to François Mansart remained unconfirmed.
In the 17th century, Louis II Phélypeaux, chancellor of France in 1699, transformed the castle with the help of architect François Romain and landscape architect André Le Nôtre, who in 1693 designed a French-style park. Two paintings by Pierre-Denis Martin, dated around 1700 and preserved at Petit château de Sceaux, immortalize this fascist era. The chancellor, widowed in 1714, retired to Pontchartrain until his death in 1727. His son, Jérôme Phélypeaux, Secretary of State for the Navy, lived there until 1747, when his son, Jean-Frédéric Phélypeaux de Maurepas, nicknamed the Faquinet, an influential minister under Louis XV and Louis XVI, was responsible for the estate.
The castle then passed into the hands of the Duchess of Brissac, then was sold in 1801 to Claude-Xavier Carvillon des Tillières, speculator of the Revolution, which transformed the English gardens. In 1817, the estate was acquired by the Osmond family, whose Marquise Aimée received the painter Jean-Baptiste Isabey. In 1857, Count Guido Henckel von Donnersmarck offered to his mistress, the famous courtesan La Païva, who organized a fabulous life there and had the place redecorated by architect Pierre Manguin. After his death in 1884, the castle was bought in 1888 by Auguste Dreyfus, a magnate of the Peruvian guano, and his wife, the Marquise of Villahermosa, who led a princely life until the 20th century.
In the 20th century, the estate, classified as a historic monument in 1979, was undergoing periods of decline and real estate threats. In 1940, Lagasse owners changed access to the castle, while in 1970, road diversion and subdivision projects threatened its integrity. In 2019, the castle is sold to the company Azurel, which provides for its conversion into residences while preserving the facades and park of 60 hectares, now destined to become a communal green space. The interiors, partially dismantled, see their historic furniture dispersed at auction, including works by Coysevox, Joseph Vernet and 18th-century woodwork.
The architecture of the castle, in the shape of "U" with a central body framed with two wings, combines brick and stone in a style characteristic of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The house body, rebuilt in 1738 and rebuilt by Émile Boeswillwald at the end of the 19th century, houses a rare gallery linking the wings, inspired by the Écouen castle. The gardens, originally designed by Le Nôtre, were redesigned in the 19th century by Achille Duchêne for the Dreyfus. The estate, protected since 1979, also includes classified outbuildings, such as the chapel, the winter garden and the commons, witness to its prestigious past.
The Château de Pontchartrain also served as a setting for several film productions, including Marie-Antoinette (2006) by Sofia Coppola and Le Bossu (1997) by Philippe de Broca. Its history, marked by political figures, courtesans and industrialists, reflects the social and cultural upheavals of France, from the Ancien Régime to the contemporary era. Today, its future remains linked to the challenges of preserving heritage in the face of real estate pressures.
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