Souzy-la-Briche Manor: A Secondary Residence of the French Prime Minister
Site at a Glance
- Popularity
- Very High
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Medieval, Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Manor House
On this page6 sections
History
Souzy-la-Briche Manor is an estate in France, built between 1815 and 1830 in the Empire style, an early nineteenth-century French architectural style associated with Napoleon. Its construction fell within the Bourbon Restoration, the return of the French monarchy after Napoleon’s rule. The estate later became a residence for the French presidency and now serves as a secondary residence for the prime minister.
From private manor to presidential estate
Banker Jean-Jacques Simon and his wife, Renée, acquired the manor and spent several decades renovating it. In 1972, they bequeathed the estate to the state. They had first wanted it assigned to the prime minister, but provisions made that year named the president of the republic instead. The state accepted those terms in 1974. They required the state to care for the Simons’ graves and allocate the property to “the highest authority of the executive.” The couple also requested that, if a European confederation or federation with its central seat in Paris were created, the estate be made available to the “United States of Europe” on the same conditions.
Presidential and ministerial use
The French presidency began using the estate in 1972. It also hosted foreign heads of state and other senior foreign visitors on private trips to France. President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing visited once. From 1981, President François Mitterrand secretly spent weekends there with Anne Pingeot and their daughter Mazarine, whose existence was then unknown to the wider public. Mitterrand commissioned restoration and improvement work in 1982.
President Jacques Chirac did not use the manor during his first term, though foreign heads of state convalesced there. From 2002, his wife and, especially, his daughter Claude stayed regularly. In May 2007, President Nicolas Sarkozy chose the Lanterne, a residence at Versailles traditionally assigned to the prime minister. Souzy-la-Briche was then made available to Prime Minister François Fillon, who visited once. The Élysée administration considered selling the property as part of efforts to reduce presidential expenses, but the bequest’s conditions ruled out a sale. From late 2008, it sought to rent the estate. That year, the Court of Accounts noted the high cost in relation to its limited use.
In 2012, President François Hollande retained the Lanterne and formally attached it to the presidency. The following year, Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault had Souzy-la-Briche refurnished and prepared for weekend stays with his wife. Prime Ministers Manuel Valls, Édouard Philippe, and Jean Castex later used the estate regularly. Prime Minister Gabriel Attal wrote that he spent the night of 9–10 April 2024 there alone with his dog Volta, beside the Simons’ tomb in the chapel. The French Republic owns the estate.
Remains
The estate stands at the edge of the village, in the Hurepoix, a historical region southwest of Paris, between Étampes and Arpajon and 39 kilometres southwest of Paris. Its main entrance lies between Grande Rue and Rue des Roches. The grounds include the manor, a landscaped park, two farms, and about 280 hectares of land, roughly two-thirds woodland and one-third pasture.
Manor and grounds
The manor has two storeys, one set within the roof space. A rose garden, caretaker’s house, outbuilding, stables, and a canal measuring 250 metres are among the estate’s other features. A tennis court was added in 1982, followed by an equestrian course in 1989.
Chapel and basin
A thirteenth-century Gothic chapel stands in the middle of a large basin. Jean-Jacques and Renée Simon are buried there with their dog Poppy, a griffon.
