Built by the transient fortune of two financiers at the end of Louis XIV’s reign, this château is a model of eighteenth century architecture and decoration.
The most famous occupier was the Marquise de Pompadour, who rented the château for three years in 1757, spending a considerable amount on it. The century which followed saw the château passing from hand to hand before being acquired by Count Louis Cahen d’Anvers, who spent a fortune on restoring it.
The Count’s son gifted the château and land to the State in 1935 and it became one of the official residences of the French Republic. Many kings and heads of State were welcomed there.
The architect Jean Baptiste Bullet endeavoured to improve domestic layout by building rooms that no longer communicated with each other, an innovation. For the first time, there were ante-rooms and dressing rooms, and hidden staircases for access to the servants’ quarters. The novelty of a dining room specially reserved for taking meals was also an improvement.
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