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Origin and history

The manor house of Vardes, located in Neuf-Marché in Seine-Maritime, is an emblematic building of the 16th and 17th centuries. Built between 1575 and 1585 by the Crespin du Bec family, it combines seigneurial and defensive functions, as evidenced by its cannons, residual ditches and scauguette. The ensemble, organized around a rectangular courtyard, includes a house, barns, a dovecote and a brick and limestone gate.

Between 1630 and 1665, René de Vardes and his son François de Vardes, close to the Marquise de Sévigné, transformed the mansion deeply. They add a large masonry building decorated with brick bosses, flanked by a pavilion in the east, as part of an unfinished project to castilize it. This project provided for the construction of a residential castle separate from the farm, but it was never completed.

From the 18th century, the manor house lost its seigneurial vocation to become a farm, a use that persisted until recently. The site has been listed as a historical monument since 24 July 2002, protecting all its buildings, enclosures, soils and immediate surroundings. Its architecture blending brick and stone, as well as its defensive elements, make it a remarkable testimony to the evolution of Norman manors between Renaissance and classical times.

The mansion is located on the 915 departmental road, at the place called "Farm of Vardes". Its inscription covers not only the buildings, but also a 20-metre strip of land around the enclosure, as well as the access avenue with its alignments and stone terminals. These protections highlight the heritage importance of the whole, both for its history and its characteristic architecture.

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