Bagatelle Castle is located at Abbeville, in the Somme. It was built during the second half of the eighteenth century on behalf of Abraham Van Robais, a textile manufacturer of Flemish origin.
It is at first a simple "madness", that is to say a "pleasure castle" consisting of a single level pavilion, garden level, comprising a summer lounge, a winter lounge and a dining room but no bedrooms. It has a roof terrace Italian, as Versailles, and the rooms are pierced with windows on each side to better let in light. A floor offering rooms is added in a second time.
New owners are making additions: attics are built and two wings in the last quarter of the nineteenth century.
The estate also includes a botanical garden of about ten hectares. The whole is protected as historical monuments since 1926 for housing and 1946 for the park in the French.
The original interiors have been preserved as the double-revolved staircase with its wrought iron banister, the paneling, the refined decorations (paintings adorning the woodwork and painted ceilings) and the furniture.
The property is still private but it is open to visit by appointment from 1 October to 30 June and without appointment from Wednesday to Sunday in July, August and September. Price: 5 and 9 euros (park and castle). Information on +33 3 64 24 62 71 or +33 6 86 17 87 22.
