Berny Castle was located in the town of Fresnes, in the Val-de-Marne, about ten kilometers south of Paris.
Its remains are located precisely on the edge of Antony, in the Hauts-de-Seine.
Originally, the estate was the seat of a fief mentioned in the 15th century.
At the beginning of the 17th century, the Brûlart family owned it. These parliamentarians carried out alterations to the building of medieval origin, the work being directed by Clément Métezeau, whose descendants would be great architects of the classical period.
In 1623, Pierre Brûlart, Secretary of State then French Ambassador to Spain, spoke this time to a young architect then unknown, François Mansart. The castle is transformed and reveals its first masterpiece.
The estate was acquired in 1685 by the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés as a summer residence for its abbots whose concerns were anything but religious...
Louis de Bourbon-Condé thus lived there in the 18th century in the company of his mistress while having a theater fitted out and the building restored by Jacques Hardouin-Mansart de Sagonne, the great-great-grandnephew of the first of the Mansarts.
Symbols of the Old Regime, the castle and its vast park (which extended over the current town of Antony) were seized and sold during the Revolution. From 1808, the castle was largely dismantled.
Only part of the north wing remains today: this housed a mill, then a furniture factory and finally a residential building (at the start of the Promenade du Barrage). There are a few elements from the 18th century and facade decorations such as columns, pediments, and a 17th century pavilion attached to a facade... This ultimate testimony of the castle is listed in the Inventory.
These reflections of the domain's past splendor can mark a walk to the west of Fresnes.
Information on +33 1 49 84 56 56.
