Château de Romesnil: An Eighteenth-Century Hunting Lodge in France
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.6
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- France
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern
- Civilizations
- French
- Site type
- Domestic
- Remains
- Elite Residence
On this page6 sections
History
Construction for the Prince of Dombes
Château de Romesnil is an eighteenth-century château in Nesle-Normandeuse, France, built between 1748 and 1750 for Louis-Auguste de Bourbon, Prince of Dombes and grandson of Louis XIV, King of France. He intended the property to serve as a hunting lodge. After construction, four employees were appointed there: a concierge, a gardener, a cook, and a groom.
The prince died without heirs in 1755. His brother, Louis-Charles de Bourbon, inherited the château but never visited it. Louis-Charles also died without descendants and, in 1771, bequeathed the property to Louis XV, two years before his own death in 1773. When Louis XV died in 1774, the château passed to Louis XVI. In 1775, Louis XVI assigned Louis de Bourbon responsibility for carrying out the provisions of Louis-Charles’s will.
Change to a glassmaking residence
In 1777, the Duke of Penthièvre, a Bourbon nobleman of the French royal family, sold Château de Romesnil for 25,666 livres to the local glassmaker Jean-Baptiste Charles Libaude. The sale ended its use as a hunting lodge and began its role as the residence of the Libaude glassmaking family.
The property later passed to Libaude’s daughter, Marie-Catherine Victoire Libaude, and her husband, Jean-Baptiste Gruel d’Inderville. Following their divorce in 1794, Marie-Catherine became the sole owner of both the château and the glassworks. When she died in 1823, her son Charles Gruel d’Inderville inherited the estate. He died at Château de Romesnil in 1860, after which it passed to his grandniece Émilie Delanchy, who had been married to Achille d’Imbleval since 1 September 1846.
Royal visits and protection
Château de Romesnil was visited by Marie-Adélaïde de Bourbon, identified as the daughter of Louis de Bourbon, and by Louis-Philippe I, King of the French during the July Monarchy from 1830 to 1848. The château has been listed as a historic monument since 31 August 1989.
Remains
Château and entrance gates
Château de Romesnil is constructed from brick and limestone. Its entrance gates are surmounted by a crown, a feature that gives the approach a distinct royal and aristocratic character.
