Château de Denainvilliers

English translation

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History

The history of the château is known from the 12th and 13th centuries. In 1621, Antoinette Jacquelot, heiress of the domain, married Claude Duhamel, introducer of the Ambassadors of Louis XIII. The latter, ennobled in 1635, had the old château and its outbuildings demolished and built the central main dwelling around 1625. From 1632 to 1638, he had the two pavilions erected, connected subsequently to the building by two wings. In 1647, the chapel was consecrated. In the 18th century, the scientist Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau lived at the château. He had several sundials installed, including a complete gnomonical ensemble, and conducted, in the château, preliminary experiments for the writing of numerous treatises. In the château, he had his workshop fitted out, had vats four metres deep constructed in the cellars of the outbuildings to study the preservation of grain, and proceeded with the planting of numerous trees of exotic species in the park. In 1750, he had a mill "in the Polish manner" built at the entrance to the château, intended for the preservation of grain. In 1805, the château was restored in the style of the period. Inside, the Empire décor replaced the Louis XIII style. Subsequently, the mill was converted into a dovecote. The openings made between the ashlar stone pillars were blocked up and the mechanism destroyed and dispersed. In 1956, the château, much deteriorated, was restored again.