Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Manoir de Ré (or Ray), located at Petit-Pressigny in Indre-et-Loire, is an emblematic building of the late 15th century. Built of cut stone, it consists of a rectangular two-storey house, supported by foothills and a polygonal staircase tower. The adjacent cylindrical dovecote, typical of seigneurial dependencies, probably dates from the same period. The estate belonged to Sainte-Julitte's chestnutry, and its underground shelter could go back to the 15th century.

The history of the mansion is marked by several noble families. Othon de Laroche was a sire from 1222, followed by the Coué: Geoffroy de Coué in 1411, then Pothon de Coué in 1479. According to Abbé Bossebeuf, the castle was rebuilt around 1500 by Christophe de Coué. The estate then passed to the Perion, then to the Benoist of Genault in the 18th century, before being inherited by the Cantineau de Commacre and the d'Arsac of Ternay, including Gabriel, Member of the National Assembly of 1789.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1975 for its facades and roofs, the mansion underwent modifications in the seventeenth century (expansion of holes) and restorations in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The garden factories, added in the 19th century, complete this architectural ensemble. The site, partially open to the visit, bears witness to the evolution of a towering seigneury over more than five centuries.

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