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Origin and history

The manor house of Soisai, located at the borders of La Perrière and Belforêt-en-Perche in Orne, was erected in the 16th century by François du Grenier and his wife Françoise Carel. This original house body, flanked by a lateral tower, was thoroughly redesigned at the end of the sixteenth century after its acquisition in 1600 by Anselme de Fontenay, brother of the governor of Perche. The latter, anointed by Louis XIII as seigneur-châtelain, exercised the rights of high, medium and low justice according to local custom.

Anselm of Fontenay and his wife Marie de la Martelière undertook important extensions around 1605, adding symmetrical commons and a square pavilion replacing the original tower. A stair tower still serves the house and this pavilion, where sculpted and painted chimneys remain, testimony to the fascist of the era. The large upstairs room, once divided by a torch partition decorated with painted panels, retains elements classified among the five chimneys protected by the 1988 decree.

After the disappearance of Marie de la Martelière, the mansion became a farm until the 20th century. Repurchased in 1978 by André Loth, he was enrolled in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments, while his wife developed a remarkable botanical garden. Since 2006, Soisai has been hosting artists' residences, cultural internships and concerts as part of Mortagne's Musicales, while sheltering contemporary sculptures in its organic farming gardens.

The architecture combines Renaissance features (painted windows, open fireplaces) and typical elements of the Perche, such as the square dovecote in red sandstone. The facades, roofs, and remarkable interior elements (painted walls, chimneys) were protected in 1988. The composer Laurent Petitgirard lived there and composed his opera Joseph Merrick dit Elephant Man, adding a modern artistic dimension to this place full of history.

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