Château de Guermantes
Château de Guermantes is a Château located in Guermantes, Seine-et-Marne, northern France. It is a listed monument since 1944.[1]
Construction and design
Construction of the Château de Guermantes was undertaken by Claude Viole (died 1638), whose family had possessed the fief of "Le Chemin" since the mid sixteenth century.Cour des Comptes in 1713. Guermantes was the scene of memorable fêtes.
Guermantes is built of brick with stone facings and
quoins, in an H-plan, with projecting pavilions flanking the corps de logis
, under tall sloping slate roofs and tall chimney stacks. The house stands in a large park. The front is now approached in the English manner, with a drive sweeping to the side and an unbroken expanse of lawn. On the garden front, the house stands on a terrace with steps leading down to the former parterre, which is now lawn, and the expanse of water in the formally shaped pièce d'eau, from the far end of which the château is reflected in its entirety.
The original furnishings of Guermantes have been scattered, but rooms retain their seventeenth- and eighteenth-century duc de Sully's Château de Villebon, Eure-et-Loir.
Ownership by John Law
In 1719 the Scottish economist and financier
Mississippi Scheme burst, his life came under threat and he begged Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the Regent, for permission to leave Paris. The Regent initially only granted Law permission to retire to the Château de Guermantes, and it was there that he spent his final days in France.[4] On the evening of 17 December 1720, Law set off from the Château de Guermantes and fled France never to return.[4] Paulin Pondre was able to take possession once more; his family were dispossessed at the Revolution
.
Use as a film location
The real Guermantes provided locations for
Euro Disneyland
.
Notes
- ^ Base Mérimée: Château de Guermantes, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- ^ The property, including its small village, was renamed Guermantes for Pierre Viole (died 1667), president of the Parlement of Paris.
- ^ "Jamais non plus nous ne pûmes pousser jusqu'au terme que j'eusse tant souhaité d'atteindre, jusqu'à Guermantes. Je savais que là résidaient des châtelains, le duc et la duchesse de Guermantes, je savais qu'ils étaient des personnages réels et actuellement existants, mais chaque fois que je pensais à eux, je me les représentais tantôt en tapisserie, comme était la comtesse de Guermantes, dans le couronnement d'Esther de notre église..."
- ^ ISBN 9781934619087.
References
- Cinema walks: from one château to another
- Jacques Dupont, "Le Château de Guermantes"
- Historique de Guermantes
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