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Château de la Motte-Husson

Coordinates: 48°12′54″N 0°40′05″W / 48.2150890°N 0.6680870°W / 48.2150890; -0.6680870
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Château de la Motte.
Château de la Motte-Husson
Front façade of the château in June 2019
Château de la Motte-Husson is located in France
Château de la Motte-Husson
Location of the château in France
General information
Architectural styleNeo-Renaissance
LocationMartigné-sur-Mayenne, Mayenne, France
AddressChâteau de la Motte-Husson, 49730 Mayenne, France
Coordinates48°12′54″N 0°40′05″W / 48.2150890°N 0.6680870°W / 48.2150890; -0.6680870
Current tenantsDick Strawbridge and Angela Newman
Construction started1868
Completed1874
Height25m
Website
thechateau.tv

The Château de la Motte-Husson is a Neo-Renaissance style château. It is located in the small market town of Martigné-sur-Mayenne, in the Mayenne département of France. The château is currently owned by Dick Strawbridge and his wife Angel. It is the setting for the Channel 4 programme Escape to the Chateau.

History

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From the 12th to 14th centuries, the site of the château was located within the parish of La Motte and was a fortified stronghold.[1] Henri de Husson received the land as concession from Jeanne "La Voyère d'Aron" in 1394.[2] The Husson family, seigneurs (lords) of Montgiroux around 1406, gave their name to the château de la Motte-Husson, or Husson Castle.[3]

The Baglion de la Dufferie family[4] (a French branch of the Baglioni family of Perugia)[5] acquired the estate in 1600.[3] The castle was rebuilt in the enclosure of the old square moat. It consisted of a kitchen, cellar, 4 or 5 bedrooms per top, attic above, a chapel, a portal for a drawbridge, a bedroom on the said portal, a dovecote, on the whole, covered with slates, behind a small courtyard, ditches and moats around the courtyards, a kennel near the gate.[6]

As of 1824, land records show the structures, referred to as "La Motte Château", still being intact, with the moat surrounding the fort.[citation needed]

The current façade is reflective of the efforts of Countess Louise-Dorothée de Baglion de la Dufferie (1826–1902), who told her husband that she wanted a grand residence built on the site of the fort.[1] The new structure would be flanked by two large towers, known as 'pepper shakers', and with a double-ramped staircase, five floors and 47 rooms[7] with separate private suites for Master and Lady, with servant quarters on the second floor and attic space. The château is surrounded by the old square moat, with a walled garden,[8] stable-block,[9] an orangery,[8] and 12 acres (4.9 ha) of parkland. The original plans and invoices for the building still exist and are on display within the château. In 2021, Strawbridge estimated that "it would cost the best part of £1 million to do the same build today".[10]

Countess Louise-Dorothée de Baglion de la Dufferie's main residence was near Nantes,[3] about 160 kilometres (99 mi) to the southwest, and the family decided to spend winters in the milder maritime climate, with the château serving as a summer retreat for the family.[11] It had been passed down through generations of the Baglion family. Latterly, Guy de Baglion de la Dufferie had received the title to it in 1954 from Xavier Marie Octave, Count de Baglion de la Dufferie and his wife, Elisabeth Marie Joseph Marthe Charlotte Treton de Vaujuas de Langan, as a part of a dowry. Following his death in 1999, it passed to his wife and children.[3] The château remained unoccupied for nearly 40 years when it was put up for sale in 2015.[12]

Renovation

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In 2015, the estate was sold by the Baglion de la Dufferie family to British television presenter Dick Strawbridge and his partner Angela for £280,000.[7] At the time of sale, the château had no basic electricity, sewerage, or heating.[13]

Over the following years, the couple, along with their children and Angela's parents, restored the property and the outlying buildings with the help of friends, family, and numerous fans of the show who have paid up to £75 a head to help with renovations.[7] Additional funding for the project has come from a television series called Escape to the Chateau, broadcast on the British channel Channel 4 and devoted to recording the renovation, reuse, and upgrading of the château into a home and family business.[1]

Some members of the de Baglion family still live in the area. In 2021, Dick Strawbridge said about them: "They have been nothing but welcoming and continued to maintain the property even after we had paid our deposit".[14]

Nine series were filmed about Dick and Angel's life renovating the property, with the ninth and final series broadcast in the UK on 30 October 2022 and concluding on 18 December the same year. The decision to end the programme was made with the agreement of the Strawbridges.[15]

Legend of the wolf

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Legend has it that the region's last wolf was shot from a window of the château.[16] For many years a taxidermied wolf sat at the top of the staircase. It was removed before the sale of the château in 2014, and its current whereabouts are unknown. In 2015, Angel secretly designed and ordered a new replica stuffed wolf as wedding gift for her husband that would add to the character of the château and bring that tale to life. It has pride of place on the landing at the top of the stairs.[16]

Successive owners

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Former domain of Motte-Husson (pre-19th century)

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Château de la Motte-Husson (since 19th century)

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Images

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  • Château de la Motte-Husson (c. 1910)
    Château de la Motte-Husson (c. 1910)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Chilton, Louis (2019-11-24). "Escape to the Chateau: can you rent it and stay there?". Radio Times. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  2. ^ "Patrimoine" (in French). Martigne.com. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  3. ^ a b c d "L'Histoire – By Dick Strawbridge". Thechateau.tv. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  4. ^ "Baglion de la Dufferie". www.baglion.com. Retrieved 2020-02-05.
  5. ^ Bulletin de la Société héraldique et genéalogique de France (in French). Paris: Société héraldique et genéalogique de France. 1879. p. 541. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Maine Historical and Archaeological Society, Maine Historical and Archaeological Review, G. Fleury & A. Dangin (Mamers),1889 (read online [ archive ]), p.321, 322
  7. ^ a b c "Family swap East London flat for fairytale chateau in France". Stuff.co.nz. 2016-08-01. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  8. ^ a b Jessica Jonzen (2016-07-24). "How it feels to ... swap a flat for a chateau | The Sunday Times Magazine". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  9. ^ "TV star Strawbridge swaps London flat for sumptuous 45-room chateau in France". Belfasttelegraph.
  10. ^ "Dick Strawbridge details staggering seven-figure sum to rebuild Escape to the Chateau home". Express. 11 March 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  11. ^ "L'Histoire - By Dick Strawbridge - Chateau de la Motte Husson". Chateau de la Motte Husson. Retrieved 2018-11-09.
  12. ^ Boudicca Fox-Leonard (2016-06-04). "We bought a crumbling French château - but restoring it was no fairytale". The Telegraph. Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  13. ^ "Going Out: Dynamic duo Dick and Angel Strawbridge's fairy-tale castle in France | Metro Newspaper UK". Metro.news. 2019-10-08. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
  14. ^ "Boxing Day sales Dick Strawbridge sets record straight on Baglion family and Escape To The Chateau". Express. 20 January 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  15. ^ "Castle life: what's next for Escape to the Chateau's Dick and Angel?". The Guardian. 29 October 2022. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  16. ^ a b Tarasin, India. "5 times Angel and Dick were couple goals | Lifestyle". www.lifestyle.com.au. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  17. ^ "Gilles III. De Baglion de la Dufferie".
  18. ^ a b Baglion's house - genealogy" [archive], on baglion.com
  19. ^ M. Le Paige, Topographic Dictionary, Genealogical History And ... of the province of Maine, Volume 2 (read online [archive]), p. 291, 292
  20. ^ "Généalogie de François de BAGLION de la DUFFERIE".
  21. ^ Gustave Chaix d'Est-Ange (1863-1923), Dictionary of ancient or notable French families at the end of the 19th century. II. Aub-Bar, impr. by C. Hérissey (Évreux), 1903–1929 (read online [archive]), p. 197, 198
  22. ^ Grosse-Duperon, Albert (1838-1924), The Duchy of Mayenne: confession of April 11, 1669, Impr. from Poirier frères (Mayenne),1904 (read online [archive]), p. 82
  23. ^ a b Base Léonore - civil status, birth of the son, Charles Joseph Robert de Baglion de la Dufferie. » [ Archive ], on culture.gouv.fr
  24. ^ Directory of castles and departments: 40,000 names & addresses of the aristocracy, the high life, the foreign colony, the political world, the judiciary, the army, the clergy, sciences, letters and fine arts, of all the owners of the castles of France, etc. etc., with descriptive, anecdotal & illustrations, A. La Fare (Paris),1899 (read online [ archive ]), p. 1135
  25. ^ Directory of castles and departments: 40,000 names & addresses of the aristocracy, the high life, the foreign colony, the political world, the judiciary, the army, the clergy, sciences, letters and fine arts, of all the owners of the castles of France, etc. etc., with descriptive, anecdotal & illustrations, A. La Fare (Paris),1932 (read online [ archive ]), p. 72
  26. ^ "Home of Escape to the Chateau!". Thechateau.tv. Retrieved 2020-01-21.
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