The Chateau

Château d’Auvers was built around 1635 by Zanobi Lioni, a rich Italian financier associated with Marie de Medici. Surrounded by woods, the building possessed a terraced roof in Italian style, harmonious gardens arranged in a series of terraces, ponds and fountains, two orangeries to the north and south as well as a belvedere overlooking the village and the valley of the Oise.

In 1662 the chateau was sold to Jean de Léry (or Leyrit), an adviser and personal servant to the King, Chief Treasurer of France and general of finances. He converted the Italian castel into a French chateau.

The estate, established as a fiefdom, was made up of a large house, several other buildings, a courtyard, a farmyard, a low garden connected by a bridge and some outbuildings. The new owner also obtained hunting rights on the estate of the Lord of Auvers as well as “sitting rights” (droit de banc) in the chancel of the church of Auvers. Jean de Léry was later buried in the chancel in 1692.

In May 1720 the chateau became the property of the Espréménil family. Shortly afterwards, around 1756, the building was completely remodelled. The north side was kept in Louis XIII style but the south side was rebuilt and the whole building flanked by two pavilions.

In 1765 after the death of its owner the chateau was sold back to the Prince of Conti. He only lived at Auvers on occasion for hunting. A short distance to the north of the entrance you can still see the nymphaeum built at that time, an artificial domed grotto covered in shells which bears the Conti crest.

The chateau changed owners again in 1779 to Mr Louis Claude Chéron de la Bruyère, a deputy in the legislative assembly. Imprisoned during the French Revolution, he was released and became Mayor of Auvers and then Prefect of Vienne in 1805. His son Henri born in 1825 remained at Auvers until the end of his life and dedicated himself wholeheartedly to the Château. During his tenure, the Council decided that the bridge and staircase of the chateau should be exempt from the rules of alignment since they were part of the historic estate of the Prince of Conti, a “historic monument and decorative architectural feature of the district”. Alphonse Chéron, the third in the line, sold the chateau to the Gosselin family in 1882, who retained it until 1939.

Purchased in 1987 by the Conseil général du Val-d’Oise, Château d’Auvers was fully restored. From 1994 to 2016 the chateau housed the multimedia experience “A Journey through the time of the Impressionists” which celebrated the painters who had such an impact on the valley of the Oise