is the Forbes family estate at

Saint-Briac Saint-Briac-sur-Mer (, literally ''Saint-Briac on Sea''; ; Gallo: ''Saent-Beriac''), is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine Department in Brittany in northwestern France. Population Inhabitants of Saint-Briac-sur-Mer are called ''briacins'' in Fr ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, and the international family seat of the descendants of James Grant Forbes (b. Shanghai, China), a member of the

Forbes family The Forbes family is one of the components of the Boston Brahmins—they are a wealthy extended American family long prominent in Boston, Massachusetts. The family's fortune originates from trading opium and tea between North America and China ...

of China and Boston who settled in Brittany at . He is the grandfather of two famous politicians,

Brice Lalonde Brice Lalonde (; born 10 February 1946) is a former green party leader in France, who ran for President of France in the Presidential elections, 1981. In 1988 he was named Minister of the Environment, and in 1990 founded the green Ecology Gener ...

, a

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

candidate for President of

in 1981, and former US Secretary of State

John Forbes Kerry John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American attorney, politician and diplomat who currently serves as the first United States special presidential envoy for climate. A member of the Forbes family and the Democratic Party, he ...

, the Democratic nominee for

President of the United States of America The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States of America. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States ...

in 2004. Many of the Forbes family have socialized during summers spent in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

at . had been occupied and used as a Nazi headquarters during World War II. When the Germans fled, they bombed and burnt it down. The sprawling estate was rebuilt in 1954.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Les Essarts, Forbes Family Estate Forbes family residences Buildings and structures in Ille-et-Vilaine Houses in France