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Origin and history

The castle of Vimer, located in Guerquesalles in Orne, was probably built in the early eighteenth century by Louis François de Nolet, lord of Malvoue and Vimer. Originally, this hunting lodge was erected under Louis XIV by Michel de Beaulieu of Richebourg, seigneur of Guerquesalles, in the heart of the woods of Vimer. The estate then passed to the families of the Bosc, then to the Nollet of Malvoue, before being sold to the Bouillonnay of Ogère, then to the Des Moutes.

In 1774 René Baltazar Alisan du Chazet, a general farmer, acquired the castle and handed it over as dowry to his daughter Angélique, wife of Armand-Louis Baron de Mackau. The latter, ambassador and then minister, had as his son Ange René Armand de Mackau, Admiral and Minister of the Navy in 1843. The property was expanded by Anne-Angélique de Mackau, Countess of Saint-Alphonse, who lived there and built a chapel there in 1860, destroyed in 1944.

The castle served as a field hospital after the bombing of Vimoutiers in June 1944. Its architecture combines stone and brick, with dardian roofs for the house and tiles for outbuildings. The park, redesigned in 1840 by landscape architect Bulher, includes a remarkable driveway, a greenhouse and a vegetable garden, which are included in the pre-inventory of remarkable gardens. Work was carried out between 1897 and 1903 by Baron de Mackau.

The nearby leproseries of Saint-Marc and Saint-Nicolas de Maupertuis, although located outside Guerquesalles, bear witness to the medieval history of the region, linked to the Crusades and the local lords. The castle illustrates the evolution of a hunting lodge in a noble residence, marked by family alliances and architectural transformations until the 20th century.

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