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Origin and history

Kermenguy mansion, located in Cléder in Finistère, replaces an ancient 13th century dungeon. The present building, completed in 1632, is a Breton mansion flanked by two turrets, completed by a wing destroyed during the Revolution. The property is characterized by a Louis XIII style gallery, balustrades and a dovecote, all registered with Monuments Histoires in 1975. During the Revolution, the mansion served as a refuge for undeclared priests and a headquarters for counter-revolutionary troops at the Battle of Kerguidu in 1793.

The chapel of the estate, accessible to the vicinity, was destroyed in 1810 and replaced by an inner oratory. The land and manor belong to the Kermenguy family for more than six centuries, since the marriage in 1400 of Yvon Derian (or Derrian) with Basile de Coëtaudon, lady of Kermenguy. The family, born of the Breton nobility, includes among its members bishops, crusaders, seinechaux of Brittany, as well as knights of the orders of Saint-Michel and Saint-Lazare.

The estate, surrounded by wood and served by monumental aisles, includes a granite stone house, Renaissance skylights, and commons built in the 19th century. The south entrance, decorated with armored pillars and balusters, leads to a courtyard with a circular well. In the west, a large building serves as a stable, shed and barn. The interior of the mansion, decorated in the 19th century by Jobbé Duval, preserves traces of the 17th and 18th century changes.

The seigneury of Kermenguy, one of the most important in the parish of Cléder, had preeminences in the local church dedicated to Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Kermenguy's family also gave mayors, priests, and an independent royalist MP, Émile de Kermenguy (1871-1893). The mansion, symbol of counter-revolutionary resistance and family continuity, remains a major architectural and historical testimony of Brittany.

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