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Origin and history

The Grand Taute mansion is a former fortified house built at the end of the 16th century, located in the commune of Saint-Sauveur-Lendelin, in the department of the Manche. This monument, typical of the defensive architecture of the Henri IV-Louis XIII period, was partially inscribed in historical monuments in 1975 and 1993. Its architectural features, such as machicolis, rifle holes and dried moat, testify to its protective role during the Wars of Religion.

The first known lord, Jean Langlois, a lawyer of the king and Sieur de Taute, was mentioned in 1564. Born into a noble family in Orval, he married Olive Le Petiot and probably built the mansion around 1580. In 1588, the mansion was attacked by Protestants, seriously damaging its right side. Langlois, a supporter of the League, then left for Coutances, leaving the estate to his niece Jeanne Le Petiot, married to the Sieur de Montcuit.

At the beginning of the 17th century, the manor house passed into the hands of the Lecocq family, squire and court officers. Transformed into a farm after 1670, it remained in operation until 1872. The Breton families of Beaucoudray, Tardif de Vauclair and Verdun de la Crenne followed them in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the mid-19th century, the notary Pierre Delalande became its owner, and his family kept it for nearly a century. Spared during World War II, with the exception of the stables partially destroyed in 1944, the mansion was restored after the war.

In 1995, Chantal and Christian Herrault acquired the property, restored it and made it their secondary residence. The manor, which has not been modified since its construction, preserves prominent defensive elements such as mâchicoulis, grids to spirals and an almost blind rear façade. Its house body, lined with two towers sheltering stairs, features typical square-lined windows of the Cotentin. Around the courtyard, there is an old press, an original paving stable, a barn and an isolated bakery to avoid fires. A garden surrounded by dried moats and a pond complete the whole.

The mansion has been the subject of a partial inscription to historical monuments since 1975, covering the facades, roofs, ceiling and chimney of the large hall, as well as the press mechanism. A second inscription in 1993 extended the protection to the house, bakery, stables, water room and plate of the old garden. Today, the outdoors, the press, the bakery and the stables are accessible from July to August, and by appointment the rest of the year.

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