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Origin and history

The Dick Manor is a former fortified house built in the middle of the 16th century, then remodeled in the early 17th century, located in the commune of Port-Bail-sur-Mer (former commune of Portbail) in the Manche, Normandy. It is partly inscribed in historical monuments, especially for its Renaissance fireplace of the first half of the seventeenth century. The current mansion replaced two earlier sites: a feudal motte abandoned in the 13th century near the old station ("Les Mottes du Dicq"), and a 14th century strong house destroyed during the Hundred Years War by order of the king of Navarre (1397). Its unstrategic location dominates the Rivière de la Grise and an old road linking Portbail to Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte.

The construction of the current mansion is attributed to Pierre du Castel († 1587), squire, who acquired the fief of the Dicq in 1549 from Charles de Couvren, then the fief of La Balle d'Aubigny in the same year. When he died, his eldest daughter Jeanne du Castel inherited the estate and brought him in dowry to the Vivien family through his marriage to Pierre Vivien, Sieur de l'Epinne. Their daughter Suzanne Vivien married Gilles Poërier († 1665), baili of The Hague-du-Puits, whose family marked the history of the mansion. In 1640, Gilles Poërier was described as a rich but controversial man, having "made his home by all sorts of vows". His son Jacques Poërier inherits the fiefs of the Dicq, Lanquetot and Camprond.

A dramatic turn occurred around 1660 with the murder of Launey Blondel by two Poërier brothers, resulting in the seizure and sale of family property in 1672. The contractors, Jean Dauvin and Jacques Levilly (receiver of sizes), then passed the estate on to their descendants, including Charlotte Levilly, married to Charles-François Beaufils de Romainville. In 1690, the latter, brigadier de cavalerie, died leaving a single heiress, Jeanne-Marguerite de Beaufils, who married Sébastien II de Montaigu. In the 18th century, the mansion passed into the hands of the Hellouin family, notably Nicolas-Alexandre Hellouin, who made a confession to the king for the fief in 1743. His grandson, Pancrace Hellouin († 1755), a civilian lieutenant-general, left the estate to his daughter Martha Bonaventure, married to René-Jacques de Mauconvenant.

In 1790, the manor belonged to Bon Chrétien, Marquis de Bricqueville, naval officer and brigadier of naval armies. Architecturally, the mansion presents an irregular quadrilateral plan, with a 16th century house body, two truncated turrets, a chapel transformed into a dwelling, and service buildings. The Renaissance fireplace (1628), decorated with the Poërier and Griselaine weapons, has been listed as historical monuments since 1928. A document from 1665 describes a complex in poor condition, with walls and structures threatening to ruin, a missing carreter door, and partially collapsed roofs.

Dick's mansion illustrates the evolution of a Norman seigneurial site, moving from a medieval feudal motte to a Renaissance residence, then to an aristocratic residence of the seventeenth to eighteenth centuries. Its history reflects the political upheavals (the Hundred Years War, local conflicts) and the matrimonial strategies of noble families (du Castel, Vivien, Poërier, Hellouin). Today, it bears witness to the defensive and residential architecture of Normandy, between medieval heritage and modern adaptations.

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