Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Houlbec Manor House, also known as Houlbec Castle, is a 15th, 16th and 18th century residence in the Calvados department of Normandy. The building, partially inscribed with historical monuments, stands on the former commune of Écots, within Saint-Pierre-en-Auge. It is built a few hundred meters west of Oudon, a tributary of the Dives, in the natural region of the country of Auge.

The manor house was built in the 16th century on the site of an ancient fortified square, of which the moat and some tower bases remain. It was redesigned in the 18th century. The main house, surrounded by moat fed by the forest stream, is built on a square plane with a massive tower at each angle. The first level is made of limestone, while the upper level is made of wood.

From the 15th to the 17th century, Houlbec's fief belonged to the Le Bouteiller family. He then went to La Serre, then to the Moges. In the 18th century, it was reunited in Montgomery County twice. At the end of the 19th century, the mansion became the property of the Good Thing, then of the American businessman Frank Jay Gould. The outbuildings include a press, cellar, bread oven and a square dovecote.

The house, moats, bridges, facades of the communes, the dovecote and buildings of the farm have been listed as historical monuments since 1993. The towers of the eastern façade are surmounted by a half-timbered hexagonal floor, while those of the western facade have a cylindrical stone tower and a dungeon-shaped square.

External links