The Château du Mesnil is located in the town of Mesnil-Saint-Denis, in the department of Yvelines, 18 km south-west of Versailles.
It was built from the 1580s by Habert de Montmort, then Secretary of Finance to King Henry III. The estate was then passed on to his grandson Henri Louis, then to his son, Jean Louis Habert de Montmor, intendant in charge of the Galleys of France. In 1737, the castle and its park were acquired by the State Councilor Charles de Selle. Spared during the Revolution, in the 19th century it was the property of Sophie Gay, a woman of letters, then in 1865, the Husson-Carcenac family who acquired the complex, had the castle restored by requesting the architect Hippolyte Destailleur. From this period dates its present appearance, in neo-classical style, consisting of a three-storey dwelling (the second floor being attic), a triangular pediment surmounting the central body. Two pavilions protrude from the facade overlooking the courtyard and form wings at right angles to the rear.
A chapel was added at the end of the 19th century.
To the south, a wing from an earlier period ending in a dovecote has been preserved.
Occupied by the Prussians in 1870, exiled residence of the King of Albania in 1940, after the war the estate housed a production unit for Reynolds pens in its outbuildings for a few years.
Finally, in 1952, the municipality bought the whole complex and set up the town hall and technical services there.
Listed in the Inventory, the château retains in its vast interiors a number of elements of very noble craftsmanship (coating paneling, fireplaces, interior shutters, allegorical paintings, coffered ceilings painted in the Italian style in the chapel, ramp wrought iron staircase…).
Note that in the park, an ornamental vase and ornate benches are also listed in the inventory.
The castle can easily be observed from the outside, and it is open to the public (apart from the services of the town hall) during Heritage Days.
Information on +33 1 30 13 86 50.
