The Château de Châtenay is located in Châtenay-en-France, north of

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. The estate stretches over more than of land and shelters a 19th-century castle, an 18th-century farm and the

orangerie An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...

. Its romantic garden has remained essentially unchanged for more than a century.

History

The history of Châtenay began in 1097, with the donation of the parish church to the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Martin-des-Champs. At that time, a stately mansion and a large farm testified to the agricultural wealth of this area, known as the

Pays de France The Pays de France (, literally ''Land of France''), also called the Parisis () or Plaine de France (), is a natural region located in the Île-de-France administrative region to the north of Paris, France. It is essentially a silt plain devot ...

. The mansion and the farm were both sold as national property during the French Revolution to the Herelle family, which was to develop a residential project. The latter included a neo-classical mansion built in 1878 by architect Dainville Isabelle et Jacques Renaud, "Le Parc du château de Châtenay", in ''Paysage Actualités'', avril 1989, p. 42. and a romantic garden. Work on the park began in 1835 under the leadership of landscape architect Louis-Sulpice Varé, who would later be entrusted by

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

to design the

Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park that is the western half of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by the Em ...

, in Paris. It was completed in 1884 by the Bühler brothers, creators of the

Parc de la Tête d'Or The Parc de la Tête d'or (; English: "Park of the Head of Gold") is the largest urban park in Lyon, France, with an area of approximately . Located in the northern part of its 6th arrondissement of Lyon, 6th arrondissement, it features the Jardi ...

, in

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

. The result is a romantic garden following the “modern” laws depicted by

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

in ''

La Nouvelle Héloïse ''Julie or the New Heloise'' (), originally entitled (Letters from two lovers, living in a small town at the foot of the Alps), is an epistolary novel by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, published in 1761 by Marc-Michel Rey in Amsterdam. The novel's subti ...

'', as opposed to the previously fashionable

French garden The French formal garden, also called the , is a style of "landscape" garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century ...

style. The Château, a Louis XIIIth-styled mansion, is home to several social venues, its landmark being the Grand Salon and its large terrace overlooking the surrounding forests of Halatte and

Chantilly Chantilly may refer to: Places France *Chantilly, Oise, a city ** US Chantilly, a football club *Château de Chantilly United States * Chantilly, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Chantilly (Charlotte neighborhood), North Carolina ...

. The Renaud family, who acquired the property in 1922, kept it in its original integrity, while continuing their predecessors’ work. In 1987, landscape gardener

Gilles Clément Gilles Clément (; born at Argenton-sur-Creuse, Indre, France in 1943), is a French gardener, garden designer, botanist, entomologist and writer. He is the author of several concepts in the framework of landscaping of the end of the twentieth ce ...

designed new parts of the grounds and cleared some others, which had been obstructed by prolific vegetation. Now protected as a National Heritage Site of France area and part of a

Regional Natural Park A regional nature park or regional natural park ( or PNR) is a public establishment in France between local authorities and the Cabinet of France, French national government covering an inhabited rural area of outstanding beauty in order to protec ...

,Parc naturel régional Oise-Pays de France
. Châtenay is preserved from wild urbanism, despite its proximity to Paris () and

Charles de Gaulle Airport Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport , also known as Roissy Airport, is the primary international airport serving Paris, the capital city of France. The airport opened in 1974 and is located in Roissy-en-France, northeast of Paris. It is named for ...

(). Therefore, the Château de Châtenay can be considered as a witness of the cultural and social life of French bourgeoisie in the 19th century. Since 1983, it has been dedicated to seminars, professional meetings, launching of products or less formal corporate events.

References

External links

Château de Châtenay-en-France
- official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Chatenay-en-France, Chateau De Châteaux in Val-d'Oise Pourtalès family