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Origin and history

The Caillebotte property, located in Yerres (Essonne), is a 19th-century estate acquired in 1860 by Martial Caillebotte (1799–1974), father of the painter Gustave Caillebotte. In the 1830s, in an English style, it became a resort for the family, where Gustave made nearly ninety paintings between 1870 and 1879, inspired by the park, the Yerres River and the ornamental factories.

During the 1870 war, the property was occupied militarily, like other local residences. After their parents died, Gustave and his brother Martial (son) sold the estate in 1879. The property, typical of the bourgeois estates of the time, included a neoclassical house (the Casin), an orangery, an adorned farm, a vegetable garden and picturesque elements such as a Chinese kiosk or a neo-Gothic chapel.

Purchased by the city of Yerres in 1973, the property was restored and opened to the public. It has been labeled "Maison des Illustres" since 2012 and offers exhibitions in the Ornamental Farm and the Orangerie. The park, classified as a "remarkable wooded complex", houses a cedar from Lebanon and a bicentennial plane tree, while the vegetable garden, cultivated by a local association, perpetuates Gustave Caillebotte's horticultural heritage, passionate about gardening.

The Caillebotte House, restored in 2017, reconstructs the painter's workshop and exhibits original works. The park's factories, such as the cooler under the kiosk or the metal bridge rebuilt in 2006, illustrate 19th-century romantic aesthetics. The site combines artistic, historical and natural heritage, offering an immersion in the universe that inspired one of the masters of Impressionism.

Among the notable elements, the Notre-Dame-du-Lierre chapel, built for Alfred Caillebotte (son of Martial, priest), was restored in 2016. The Swiss chalet, formerly a dairy, now houses a restaurant. The property, which was partly listed as historical monuments in 1993, bears witness to the way of life of the industrial bourgeoisie of the Second Empire, between river leisure, art and landscape innovation.

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