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Origin and history

The castle of the Feugerets was built in the early 16th century on the site of an older building, by Jean des Feugerets, local lord mentioned in acts between 1508 and 1524. The family of Feugerets, whose filiation dates back to Guillaume (died 1424 in Verneuil), illustrated itself in the Percherno nobility, with members such as Bertrand, baili de Nogent-le-Rotrou, or Florent, seigneur de Vacheresse-les-Basses. The castle, surrounded by ditches, incorporates a quadrangular dungeon renovated in the sixteenth century and a tower of the earlier clock.

In the seventeenth century, under Henry IV and Louis XIII, the Feugerets held prestigious offices: John was a gentleman of the king's chamber, while his son Lancelot, married to a lady of Catherine de Medici, became a king's adviser. Emery des Feugerets, captain of the Perch hunts and governor of Bellême in 1682, obtained the erection of the seigneury in marquisat in 1687. He even created a regiment in his name in 1703. The castle then underwent major developments, such as the baluster terrace and double staircase, typical of the reign of Louis XIV.

In the 19th century, Marquis Hervé de Broc modified the house in a troubadour style, adding neo-Gothic skylights to Feugeret weapons, a roof terrace, and a turret on the Clock Tower. The French-style park, attested in 1660, was transformed into an English garden around 1830, with an orangery. The 16th century chapel, in ruins, was replaced in 1855 by an inner oratory. After the family's extinction in 1814, the estate passed to the Semallé, then to the Broc and Romanet, before being restored in the 21st century by Xavier Fautrelle de Fondaumière.

The castle, partially listed as historical monuments in 2001, includes protected elements such as facades, moat, dovecote (more than 1,000 bolts), and orangery. Its interior preserves Louis XVI woodwork and an open living room. The Lebanese cedar of the park is labeled "remarkable tree". In 2018, the partial collapse of the dovecote damaged the stables, before the current restoration.

The history of the Feugerets reflects the ascension of a noble Percheron line, from medieval baililis to courtesans of the Bourbons. Their castle, witness to architectural transformations (Renaissance, classical, troubadour), also illustrates the changes of gardens and seigneurial uses, from feudal defense to the residence of pleasure. The transmission of the estate by marriage alliances until today makes it a rare example of aristocratic continuity in Normandy.

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