Photo gallery

Chateau

  • Château

    Aerial view of Le Plessis-Fortia and its outbuildings.

  • Acte d'achat

    Deed of purchase by the nobleman Bernard de Fortia, relating to the manor of Le Plessis, from Lady Philippe de Champagne, widow of Gilbert du Puy du Fou, 8 April 1599.

  • Acte d'achat

    Continuation of the deed.

  • Château

    Old-style gateway in white stone and hand-wrought ironwork.

  • Château

    Main driveway 500 metres long, leading from the gateway to the main courtyard of the chateau.

  • Château

    Le Plessis-Fortia chateau and two pavilions enclosing the main courtyard.

  • Château

    Main facade of the ’Great Chateau’.

  • Château

    Bridge over the drained moat and access to the main courtyard. The pavilion on the right has been converted into apartments.

  • Château

    The front garden of the French formal garden of the ’Great Chateau’.

Interiors

  • Grand Château

    Main entrance of the two chateaux, via the ’Little Chateau’.

  • Grand château

    Great hall of the ’Great Chateau’.

     
    • Great hall of the 'Great Chateau'.
    The Versailles-style parquet was restored in the traditional way with old oak. The pilasters were installed, like 18th century paintings on canvas to line and insulate all the walls.
  • Grand château

    Another view of the great hall of the ’great chateau’.

     
    • Another view of the great hall of the 'great chateau'.
    Windows with small panes have been replaced by windows with large panes dating from the 19th century. All windows throughout the interior of the chateau have been replaced, as have the window frames).
  • Grand château

    Detail of the great hall (Great Chateau).

  • Grand château

    Great hall of the ’Great Chateau’: detail of door frames, reconstructed from models of the period, in gilded bronze.

  • Petit château

    Small dining room for four people in the ’Little Chateau’.

  • Petit château

    The large kitchen for the two chateaux, laid out in a large space on the ground floor of the ’Little Chateau’.

     
    • The large kitchen for the two chateaux, laid out in a large space on the ground floor of the 'Little Chateau'.
    This photograph is actually the right-hand side of the kitchen. On the other side of the right-hand block, there is a similar area with a table and chairs. The appliances and furniture are new.
  • Grand château

    Stone grand staircase of the ’Great Chateau’, demolished around 1900 and rebuilt.

     
    • Stone grand staircase of the 'Great Chateau', demolished around 1900 and rebuilt.
    In the early 20th century, the owners removed the grand staircase and replaced it with a wooden staircase, only half the width. This allowed them to build a small kitchen on each floor. The hand-wrought iron and brass balustrade.
  • Petit château

    Bedroom for friends in the ’Little Chateau’.

  • Salle de bains

    Standard shower room: Burgundy stone floor and on the right-hand walls. Separate WC. The walls were rebuilt and insulated.

  • Salle de bains

    Master bathroom on the 2nd floor of the ’Great Chateau’, with bath. Note the luxury fittings.

  • Combles

    ’Philibert de l’Orme’ style roof of an annex building next to the ’Little Chateau’. This house currently contains garages and will be converted into a reception hall on the ground floor.

  • Grand château

    Detail of the roof of one of the wings or pavilions of the ’Great Chateau’.

     
    • Detail of the roof of one of the wings or pavilions of the 'Great Chateau'.
    All the roofs of both chateaux and outbuildings have been refurbished with new insulation.
  • Grand château

    ’Great Chateau’. Another renovated roof detail.

  • Petit château

    Clock Tower, adjacent to the ’Little Chateau’ (17th century).

  • Ground floor at moat level, vaulted rooms with old wood stove. Today, exit to the ’French formal garden’ by very wide French doors.

  • Another view of the ground floor at moat level.

Gardens

  • In front of the ’Little Chateau’.

     
    • In front of the 'Little Chateau'.
    On the left, two hundred year-old cedars of Lebanon hide a long 18th century collective building, with apartments and stables for riding horses.

  • 18th century collective building with apartments, gas boiler (new) for the two chateaux, stables for the riding horses.

  • The ’Great Chateau’ (facing the water) and ’Little Chateau’ on the left, in the "French garden’.

  • ’French formal garden’ seen from a window on the first floor of the ’Great Chateau’.

  • ’French formal garden" seen from the ’Great Chateau’.

  • Detail of the ’French formal garden’.

     
    • Detail of the 'French formal garden'.
    Note the two stone sphinxes marking the stairs leading from the terrace of the 'great chateau' to the 'French formal garden'

  • The ’French formal garden’ is scattered with stone statues.

  • One of the two stone sphinxes marking the transition from the terrace of the ’Great Chateau’ to the ’French formal garden’.

  • Undergrowth in a private forest in the grounds, completely fenced.

  • A vast twelve-hectare meadow is surrounded by woods covering more than twenty hectares, where a herd of a dozen deer lives in semi-liberty, as the property is completely fenced.

  • The ’Great Chateau’ seen from the end of the ’French formal garden’.

Wildlife

  • Troupeau de 13 chevreuils et chevrettes dans les bois du château.

    Herd of 13 deer in the woods of the chateau.