Château de la Forest

English translation

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History

Documents trace the estate and castle back to the time of Saint Louis. A hunting pavilion is said to have existed at the location of the present building, rebuilt around 1600. It was surrounded by a fortified enclosure, with towers, destroyed by Mac Mahon around 1865. Only three towers remain. The 17th-century building is a long rectangular structure of one storey over a ground floor, topped with a high roof with roof space lit by five brick dormers with alternate triangular or arched pediments. This north façade was completed, in the 19th century, with a flight of steps with four column sections and, to the east, by a dome-covered chapel completed with an angle turret, all at the request of Mac Mahon. The south façade was extended at the end of the 17th century by two pavilions and return wings, the window frames of which appear to have been redone in the 19th century. The east return wing was completed, in the 19th century, by a building perpendicular to it. Marshal Mac Mahon, who made it his residence from 1860 to 1893, the year of his death, had the dining room constructed as a terrace, in front of the ground floor, as well as the winter garden attached to the defensive tower. The interiors of the castle are marked by the 19th century.