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Origin and history

Madame's dairy, located at 2 rue Vauban in Versailles (Yvelines), is a building built in 1780 by architect Jean-François Chalgrin. Ordered by the Countess of Provence, wife of the future Louis XVIII, she is part of a set of ornamental factories intended for aristocratic entertainment, like the Hamlet of the Queen in Trianon. Its wooden columns and bark denticles make it a rare example of neo-classical rustic architecture, evoking vitruvian origins.

However, the attribution of the dairy to the Countess of Provence was challenged by some historians. Fabienne Cirio suggests that the land did not belong to the Countess and that the construction would rather date from the early 19th century, for a certain Froment de Champ-Lagarde. This debate reflects the uncertainties surrounding sponsors and the precise dating of certain factories of the Old Regime or the post-revolutionary period.

Classified as a historic monument since 1 August 1957, the dairy embodies the taste of the 18th century for picturesque architectures and country decors. Its state of conservation and its location make it a valuable testimony to the aristocratic practices of leisure, between idealized nature and architectural artifice. Sources also mention an alternative address (57 or 107 avenue de Paris), highlighting the documentary variations around this heritage.

According to Michel Gallet, the dairy was integrated into a hamlet in Montreuil, where the Countess of Provence reproduced the entertainments of her sister-in-law, Marie-Antoinette. This context recalls the enthusiasm of elites for pastoral follies and decorations, symbols of an arcadian nostalgia in the Enlightenment.

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