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Origin and history

La Vallée-aux-Loups, located in Châtenay-Malabry, Hauts-de-Seine, is a property acquired in 1807 by François-René de Chateaubriand. The writer, already famous for Atala (1801) and The Genius of Christianity (1802), is looking for a refuge to write, far from Parisian agitation. There is a 14-hectare park, planted with exotic trees like cedars or catalpas, and transforms the Velleda Tower into an office. This place inspired several of his works, including The Martyrs (1809) and Itinerary from Paris to Jerusalem. Chateaubriand, in political disgrace and debt, had to sell the estate in 1817.

The house, built at the end of the eighteenth century by brewer André-Arnoult Acloque, is decorated by Chateaubriand with a neoclassical peristyle and a sea staircase. After his departure, the Duke of Montmorency added a wing and a turret in 1820. The estate then became a resting place under Henri Le Savoureux (1914), welcoming literary figures such as Paul Valéry or Marc Chagall. Classified as a historical monument in 1964 and 1978, the property is now a departmental museum dedicated to exhibitions in Chateaubriand, romanticism and contemporary creation.

The park, labeled "remarkable garden", and the house retain original elements such as Madame Récamier's meridian or period wallpapers. The Velléda Tower, the writing venue of Chateaubriand, and the salons evoking Juliette Récamier or Le Savoureux testify to its rich history. The estate also includes an arboretum created in 1986, extending its cultural and landscape heritage.

During the Second World War, the Vallée-aux-Loups was home to artists such as Jean Fautrier, who painted his series Les Otages while hearing the nearby Nazi shootings. After 1967, the department of Hauts-de-Seine became its owner, restaurant the premises to make it a museum space and a tribute to the writer. The current exhibitions explore its links to romanticism, its literary influence and the traces of its stays.

The architecture of the house combines neoclassical styles and troubadour, with a facade adorned with cariatides and an interior preserving 19th century decorations. The salons, like the one dedicated to Anne-Louis Girodet or Madame Récamier, reconstruct the atmosphere of the time. Chateaubriand's bedroom, reconstituted after its last Parisian accommodation, exhibits portraits and personal objects, while the park offers a romantic setting inspired by its travels.

Ranked among historical monuments, Chateaubriand House illustrates both the literary heritage of its occupant and the evolution of a private domain in a public cultural place. Its park, collections and exhibitions make it a major site for understanding French romanticism and the history of writers' houses in Île-de-France.

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