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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The mansion of the Grand-Courtoiseau, located in Trigueres, replaces a rectangular fortress built around 1480 by the Avy family. Built in the 17th or 18th centuries, it illustrates the evolution of rural houses in the Loire Valley, losing their defensive and economic function to residential use. Organized around a rectangular central courtyard with basin, its U-shaped plan is characteristic of solognote architecture. Access is made by a north gate between two symmetrical wings ( stables, saddlery, shed), dated from the seventeenth century by the owner.

The southern house body, transformed or rebuilt in the 18th century by the Dupré de Saint-Maur family, has a sober style: coated facades, brick bay frames, and a central stone pediment. Two low pavilions flank the main building, unified by a double brick cord. Originally probably surrounded by moat, the manor house lost its agricultural outbuildings, highlighting its purely residential role. A chapel, accessible from the east, completes the whole.

In the 19th century, the miniaturist Jean-Baptiste Augustin (1819–end of life) resided there, followed by interior changes at the beginning of the 20th century under Alfred-Léon Gérault-Richard, MP for Guadeloupe and owner from 1906. The estate then hosts figures such as writer Hervé Bazin (autarcie, latest works) or singer Mouloudji. Since 1989, the current owners have restored the site and created a refined garden, designed by Alain Richer and opened to the public since 1991.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 2001 for its facades, roofs and walls surrounding the courtyard, the mansion embodies the passage from medieval fortresses to recreational residences, while preserving traces of its architectural and social history. Late additions, such as a metal greenhouse (around 19th–XXth centuries), testify to its adaptation to successive periods.

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