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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The mansion of Vitanval, located in Sainte-Adresse in Normandy, has its origins in the Middle Ages. The estate, mentioned from the thirteenth century, belonged to the Black Pel family before being occupied by the English in 1398 during the Hundred Years War. The latter set up a garrison and built a castle, now extinct, of which only archaeological traces remain: a feudal motte, a drawbridge and ditches in quarter circle, still visible in the 19th century. The estate, abandoned after the war, was partially demolished in the 18th century.

The current mansion was built between 1419 and 1450, probably under the impulse of Jean de Wychefort, head of the English garrison. This modest building, with wooden panels, is distinguished by a monumental fireplace of the 15th to 16th centuries and beams decorated with lily flowers. In 1563, during the Wars of Religion, King Charles IX and his mother Catherine de Médicis stopped there during the siege of Le Havre. An epidemic forced the king to stay there, while the queen visited the troops. The figure "1563", engraved on a gable, commemorates this event.

In the 18th century, the estate enriched with a Pavillon de la Solitude, a garden factory designed in 1785 by architect Paul-Michel Thibault. In 1920, the Toussaint family, then owner, added an octagonal tower and restored the mansion. Old parts, excluding modern additions, were listed as historical monuments in 1986. Today, the mansion bears witness to both Norman seigneurial architecture and the landscape transformations of the Enlightenment.

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