Date

Circa 1910

French château near Paris, originally a fortified manor, best known for its gardens, laid out between 1700 and 1789. The château was built and maintained by the d'Angennes family from the 14th to the 17th centuries. The canal (740 m) and waterworks were laid out in the 1660s. Between 1705 and 1737 Louis-Alexandre, Comte de Toulouse (1678-1737), the legitimized son of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan, greatly enlarged the château. A jardin anglais was created between 1737 and 1783. It became a pastoral retreat for Marie-Antoinette and Louis XVI, who bought the property in 1783. Hubert Robert designed the Laiterie de la Reine, (the Queen's dairy) there. The château, which suffered during the Revolution (1789-1795) and from the subsequent restoration under Napoleon I, is now maintained by the Monuments Historiques; it is the official country residence of the President of France.