Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Rouvre Manor House, located in Neuvy-le-Roi (Indre-et-Loire), is a historic monument listed on October 25, 1971. Its origins date back to at least the 11th century, where it is mentioned as a villa that says Rouvrum, then in the 13th century as terra de Robore, a Latin term evoking a wooded site. Although the name Philippe de Rouvre appeared in a charter of 1226, the first certified owners date from the 16th century, with the family of Castelnau, which kept the fief until the 17th century.

The architecture of the mansion reflects several eras, with buildings organized around two closed courtyards. The northern courtyard houses the main house, composed of two buildings of different heights, one of which has a cylindrical turret with a conical roof. The facades are made of triangular pediment stone, rectangular bays and various roofs (long panels, pavilions, broken), typical of additions from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. A 17th century staircase, decorated with wooden balusters, bears witness to subsequent changes.

In the 18th century, the mansion passed to the Pellerin de Gauville family, which owned it from 1750. The French Revolution marked a turning point: in 1793, the estate underwent requisitions, and the inventory of furniture made on that occasion provided valuable details of its content. In the 19th century, the mansion changed hands several times: Etienne Martel Marcheri (owner in 1811), Etienne Anjubault (from 1813), then the family of Saint Waast (1832), before being acquired in 1849 by M. Lepingleux, former notary at La Flèche. His heirs still own them today.

The mansion has been partially protected since 1971, with the inscription of the north façade of the 16th century building, its corresponding roof and the interior staircase. The mutilations and additions of the 19th century altered some parts, but the whole retained a representative character of the seigneurial residences of Touraine, between agricultural function (south courtyard surrounded by farm buildings) and noble residence (north courtyard and house).

External links