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Origin and history

The Saulchoix Castle, located at Clairy-Saulchoix in the Somme, was built in 1679 for the Louvencourt family. It probably replaces an anterior home and consists of a central brick and stone house body, flanked by two wings on the courtyard side. The rear façade is straight, and the windows were enlarged in the 18th century. The estate includes a chapel, outbuildings and a farm, all inscribed in the Historic Monuments since 2009.

The Saulchoix seigneury, under the baronie de Picquigny, was owned by noble families such as the Picquigny, the Croÿ, and the Conty. In 1638 Marie Marguerite de Conty brought by marriage to Jacques Eustache de Louvencourt. Their son, François de Louvencourt, had the present castle built. In 1793 Eustache de Louvencourt sold it, and after several transactions it was acquired in 1821 by Marie Josephe de La Fonteyne, widow of Jean de Gillès. Since then, the domain has been passed on to this family.

In the 19th century, the outbuildings were rebuilt and the park redesigned in English. The estate, always private, retains its original architecture, with elements such as the gate, the greenhouse, and the fence wall protected. It reflects the architectural and landscape evolution of a seigneurial property that has become a family residence.

The protections cover facades, roofs, interior spaces, as well as ancillary buildings and the park. The chapel and the farmhouse, typical of the picard rural estates, complete this historic ensemble. The castle also illustrates social transformations from a medieval seigneury to a post-revolutionary bourgeois property.

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