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Château d'Abondant

France · 17th century

Founded
c. 1700
Style
Louis XIII style
Architect
Jean Mansart de Jouy
Heritage status
monument historique inscrit
Location
Abondant
Coordinates
48.784°, 1.43681°
Links
Wikimedia Commons
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Château d'Abondant in France
Photo: L'Oiseau Lybre · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Description

Château d'Abondant is a château in Abondant, in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France, built in the mid 17th century and significantly remodelled and enlarged in the 1750s under the direction of Jean Mansart de Jouy. The Château was designated as a French historic monument in 1928 and in 2018, it was restored and converted into apartments.

The first recorded owner is Pierre Bigot, "Lord of Fay and forest Houdan." In 1485, Guillaume La Guiry is mentioned as Lord of Fay and Abondant, and, in 1560, Jean Mangot, Ensign; the land passed to his son Louis Mangot, who still owned the property in 1618. In the first quarter of the seventeenth century, Joachim de Bellengreville, Grand Provost of France, acquired the seigniory of Abondant. In 1645, his widow, Marie de La Noue (a granddaughter of Huguenot Capt. François de la Noue), traded the property with Jacques Bouchet de Sourches, Abbot of Saint-Martin of Troarn, for the estate of Montguichet, located near Gagny.

Around this time Jacques Bouchet de Sourches acquired the property, the château was built. In 1699, the estate went to the courtier Louis-François du Bouchet de Sourches. When he died in 1746, it was passed on to his son, Louis II du Bouchet de Sourches, Grand Prévôt of France. In the 1750s, Louis II hired architect Jean Mansart de Jouy to transform the residence into a four-storey château in the Louis XIII style, set on 200 acres of landscaped grounds. The main building was significantly enlarged with two symmetrical pavilions added to each end, along with kitchens and a grand staircase. In the right pavilion was a large salon, known as the Great Salon, which opened onto the park. The room had "a square design with curved angles, and was lit by three windows on the parterre side, and three others on the park side."

Louis' son, Louis François, the Marquis de Tourzel, inherited the estate, and his wife, Marie, a music lover, built a theatre on the grounds. Louis François was killed in a hunting accident in 1786. His widow, Louise-Élisabeth de Croÿ survived the French Revolution, and under the Restoration, she was made Duchess of Tourzel in 1816. The de Tourzel branch died out in 1845, and, through marriage, the estate passed to the Pérusse des Cars family. In 1902, Louis Albert Philibert Augustin, 4th Duc des Cars, sold the estate (inherited through his wife).

Text adapted from “Château d'Abondant” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

In the rankings

Château d'Abondant ranks #6,780 of 9,902 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #616 of the 954 mapped in France. Founded c. 1700, it is older than 22% of the atlas's dated landmarks, one of 755 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 1,014 times in the last 60 days, more than 56% of the atlas. 6 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Évreux, 34 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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