Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The castle of the Mesnuls has its origins in the 13th century with the construction of a mansion by Ernaut des Mesnuls, although there is no trace of it today. Between 1535 and 1540, Christophe de Refuge, master hotel of the Duke of Alençon, erected a two-storey building with a turret poterne and hollowed moat. The sculptor François Lheureux made a tomb there in 1573. In 1575 Robert de Combault, a gentleman of the King's chamber, acquired the estate and expanded, obtaining in 1578 royal letters patent to exercise seigneurial justice. He had the left part of the central house built before his death in 1606.

The castle then passes into the hands of Benigne Bernard, notary of Henry IV, who completes the right part of the house body and enlarges the estate. Louis XIII dined there in 1620. In 1637, Achille Courtin, an adviser to the Paris Parliament, bought the estate and obtained its erection in the county. His son, Honoré Courtin, ambassador under Louis XIV, then his daughter Charlotte Angélique and his son-in-law, Marshal de Villars, made landscape adjustments, such as the "Villars hole". In 1739 the Irish Marquis Balthazar Wall completed the façade and built the east wing, including a chapel.

In the 18th century, the castle changed hands several times: the families of Sallabery (1767), Maupeou (1776-1791), then Jean-Adrien Le Roy de Camilly, ruined by the Revolution, which enlarged the estate to 700 hectares before losing it in 1799. The Nugent family, including François de Nugent, prefect under the Restoration, inherited and lived there until 1914. The castle was then transformed by Jean Chrissoveloni, Romanian banker, who incorporated architectural elements of other buildings, such as a 12th century Romanesque cloister and a 17th century staircase.

In the 20th century, the castle was occupied by Admiral Karl Dönitz during the Second World War and became an educational centre for disabled children (1947-1978). In 1987, the Thomson group (now Thales, then Châteauform) purchased it as a place for corporate seminars. Ranked a historic monument in 1975 for its facades, staircase and French ceilings, it preserves remarkable elements such as the gate of the Château de Saint-Hubert and 17th century painted decorations.

External links