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Origin and history

The Pontécoulant estate, located in the Norman Bocage on the banks of the Druance, houses a castle built in the 16th century at the site of an ancient feudal motte. The Doulcet de Pontécoulant family settled in the 14th century, and the building was enlarged and renovated in the 18th century. The estate includes, in addition to the castle, pavilions, a dovecote, a farm, woods and land, organized around a court of honor and an English park. These elements reflect the architectural and landscape evolution linked to the tastes of successive periods.

In 1896, Marie-Augustine De Barrère, Countess of Pontécoulant and last heiress of the family, left the estate in the department of Calvados. His wish was to open the castle to the public, which led to the creation of the museum in 1908. Today the place preserves scenery, furniture and family objects illustrating the aristocratic way of life between the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The rooms, such as the dining room, the living room or the bedrooms, display French, exotic and regional furniture, revealing an attachment to Normandy and a pronounced taste for travel.

The museum, labeled Musée de France, highlights an architectural, furniture and landscape heritage. The estate also offers hiking departures, integrating the site into a local tourist and cultural dynamic. The collections cover decorative arts, fine arts and history, while remaining rooted in family and regional history. The accuracy of its location is considered satisfactory a priori, and the castle is listed under the code Insee 14512, in Calvados.

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