The Domaine of Villarceaux is a French château, water garden and park located in the commune of Chaussy in the

Val d'Oise Val-d'Oise (, "Vale of the Oise") is a department in the Île-de-France region, Northern France. It was created in 1968 following the split of the Seine-et-Oise department. In 2019, Val-d'Oise had a population of 1,249,674.

Department of France, 65 kilometers northwest of Paris. Villarceaux-1

The Domaine is currently managed by the Regional Council of the 'Île-de-France for 99 years, on an agreement with the owners of the domaine, the Fondation Charles Leopold Mayer. The park contains a manor house from the 16th century and a château in the style of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached ...

from the 18th century. The gardens are classified among the Notable Gardens of France. The gardens contain a rare 18th-century ornamental feature called a vertugadin (eng: farthingale), modelled after the hoop skirts of the 18th century, surrounded by statues brought from Italy.

History

The gardens are located on the site of a medieval castle from the 11th century, built to protect France from the British, who at that time occupied

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, the neighboring province. Many vestiges of the medieval fortifications remain in the park. A manor house and French water garden was built there in the 17th century. In the 18th century a château in the style of

was built on a rocky hill overlooking the water garden. One famous resident in the 17th century was

Ninon de Lenclos Anne "Ninon" de l'Enclos, also spelled Ninon de Lenclos and Ninon de Lanclos (10 November 1620 – 17 October 1705), was a French author, courtesan and patron of the arts. Early life Born Anne de l'Enclos in Paris on 10 November 1620,Sources als ...

, the author, courtesan, and patron of the arts. Another was Françoise d'Aubigné, the future

Madame de Maintenon Madame may refer to: * Madam, civility title or form of address for women, derived from the French * Madam (prostitution), a term for a woman who is engaged in the business of procuring prostitutes, usually the manager of a brothel * ''Madame'' ( ...

and future wife of King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ver ...

, who lived there after the death of her first husband, the poet

Paul Scarron Paul Scarron (c. 1 July 1610 in Paris – 6 October 1660 in Paris) (a.k.a. Monsieur Scarron) was a French poet, dramatist, and novelist, born in Paris. Though his precise birth date is unknown, he was baptized on 4 July 1610. Scarron was the fi ...

, at the invitation of her friends the Montchevreuil, cousins of the Marquis of Villarceaux. The Marquis fell in love with her, and commissioned a full-length portrait of her, nude, which greatly embarrassed her.''L'allee du roi, souvenirs de Françoise d'Aubigne'' by Françoise Chandernagor The portrait can be seen today in the dining room of the house. The house also contains a collection of 18th-century furniture. The domaine has been classified as an historic monument of France since 1941. It is part of the regional park of Vexin, and is used for concerts and cultural events. .

External links

Site officiel
du domaine (géré par la région

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (, ; literally "Isle of France") is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. Centred on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the country and often called the ''Région parisienne'' (; en, Pa ...

)
Parc naturel régional du Vexin français, site officiel

Golf de Villarceaux, site officiel

Bibliography

Françoise Chandernagor Françoise Chandernagor (born 15 June 1945, Palaiseau) is a French writer. The daughter of André Chandernagor, she is a former student of the École nationale d'administration, and she became a member of the Council of State in 1969. Biography ...

, ''L’allée du roi : souvenirs de Françoise d’Aubigné, marquise de Maintenon, épouse du Roi de France'', Paris, Julliard, 1995

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Villarceaux, Domaine Of Châteaux in Val-d'Oise Gardens in Val-d'Oise