Désert de Retz
Encyclopedia
The Désert de Retz is an Anglo-Chinois
or French landscape garden
- created on the edge of the forêt de Marly
in the commune of Chambourcy
, in north-central France. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville
on his 40 hectares (98.8 acre) estate. It is notable for the construction of 17 (or 20) buildings, of which only 10 still survive, referring to classical antiquity or in an exotic style. Those buildings include: a summer house
(the "colonne brisée", or ruined column), in the form of the base of a shattered column from an imaginary gigantic temple, an ice house in the form of an Egyptian pyramid, an obelisk, a temple dedicated to Pan
, and a (now-lost) Chinese pavilion.
in Paris to the Englishman Lewis Disney Ffytche and as the property of an English subject these were seized and sold in 1793 on the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition. En 1811, Lebigre Beaurepaire bought the Désert, but he did not honour his debts, and the estate was again seized and in 1816 sold back to Disney Ffytche after the Bourbon Restoration
. Ffytche's grandson Auguste Guilaume Hilary took possession in 1824 and sold it in 1827 to a notary of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
, Maître Alexandre Marie Denis. Denis sold it in 1839 to Jean-François Bayard
, a nephew of Eugène Scribe
.
In 1856, Jean-François Bayard's widow ceded it to Frédéric Passy
(1822-1912) and his son Pierre (born on the estate) added a hen farm
but in 1936 was forced to sell the estate due to financial difficulties, with the buyer being Georges Courtois. Courtois bought into via par a société named Neueberg. When he realised how much work was needed to restore the Désert (now nearly in ruins), the new owner decided not to do so, though the architect Jean-Charles Moreux
bemoaned its ruined state. It was decided to list the estate and its buildings on 9 December 1938, resulting in a decree signed on 30 August 1939, and published 25 November 1939. However, the société owning it changed the statutes, forcing the authorities to resume the procedure to have the Désert finally classed as a monument historique
, which came with a decree of 9 April 1941, against the owners' wishes. On 8 December 1966, André Malraux
, then minister of culture, strongly evoked the estate's state before the Assemblée Nationale l’état du domaine and had them vote for the law of 30 December 1966, which allowed the Désert to be saved. The main effect of this law was to force a building's owner to pay 50% of the cost of the work. On the 31 December 1981, the Worms group bought the Désert and gave it to the Société Civile du Désert de Retz.
Part of the former estate has since 1992 been occupied by the Joyenval golf course.
To this list may be added:
(to whom Monville offered some drawings) as well as the prince de Ligne, the duc de Chartres
and Thomas Jefferson
(who inspired the ruined column). Later visitors included Colette
and André Breton
.
Chinoiserie
Chinoiserie, a French term, signifying "Chinese-esque", and pronounced ) refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century, which reflect Chinese artistic influences...
or French landscape garden
French landscape garden
The French landscape garden is a style of garden inspired by idealized Italian landscapes and the romantic paintings of Hubert Robert, Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin, European ideas about Chinese gardens, and the philosophy of Jean-Jacques Rousseau...
- created on the edge of the forêt de Marly
Forêt de Marly
The Forêt de Marly is a 2000 hectare forest estate in Yvelines, between Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Versailles about 15 km to the west of Paris. It is about 12 km long east to west, over the communes of Louveciennes, Marly-le-Roi, Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche, Feucherolles and others...
in the commune of Chambourcy
Chambourcy
Chambourcy is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located west of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and about west of Paris....
, in north-central France. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville
François Racine de Monville
François Racine de Monville was a French aristocrat, musician, architect and landscape designer, best known for his French landscape garden, Le Désert de Retz, which influenced Thomas Jefferson and other later architects....
on his 40 hectares (98.8 acre) estate. It is notable for the construction of 17 (or 20) buildings, of which only 10 still survive, referring to classical antiquity or in an exotic style. Those buildings include: a summer house
Summer house
A summer house or summerhouse has traditionally referred to a building or shelter used for relaxation in warm weather. This would often take the form of a small, roofed building on the grounds of a larger one, but could also be built in a garden or park, often designed to provide cool shady places...
(the "colonne brisée", or ruined column), in the form of the base of a shattered column from an imaginary gigantic temple, an ice house in the form of an Egyptian pyramid, an obelisk, a temple dedicated to Pan
Pan (mythology)
Pan , in Greek religion and mythology, is the god of the wild, shepherds and flocks, nature, of mountain wilds, hunting and rustic music, as well as the companion of the nymphs. His name originates within the Greek language, from the word paein , meaning "to pasture." He has the hindquarters, legs,...
, and a (now-lost) Chinese pavilion.
History
In 1774, Monville bought the house, its service quarters and an estate of about 13 hectares (32.1 acre) from Antoine Joseph Basire, and then extended the estate to 90 arpent by 1785. In July 1792, Monville sold the Désert and his two hôtelsHôtel particulier
In French contexts an hôtel particulier is an urban "private house" of a grand sort. Whereas an ordinary maison was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it...
in Paris to the Englishman Lewis Disney Ffytche and as the property of an English subject these were seized and sold in 1793 on the outbreak of the War of the First Coalition. En 1811, Lebigre Beaurepaire bought the Désert, but he did not honour his debts, and the estate was again seized and in 1816 sold back to Disney Ffytche after the Bourbon Restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
. Ffytche's grandson Auguste Guilaume Hilary took possession in 1824 and sold it in 1827 to a notary of Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye
Saint-Germain-en-Laye is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the western suburbs of Paris from the centre.Inhabitants are called Saint-Germanois...
, Maître Alexandre Marie Denis. Denis sold it in 1839 to Jean-François Bayard
Jean-François Bayard
Jean-François Alfred Bayard was a French playwright.-Life:As a law student and a lawyer's clerk, Bayard wrote with passion for the theatre and, after several attempts, had a great success at the Gymnase theatre, with la Reine de seize ans...
, a nephew of Eugène Scribe
Eugène Scribe
Augustin Eugène Scribe , was a French dramatist and librettist. He is best known for the perfection of the so-called "well-made play" . This dramatic formula was a mainstay of popular theater for over 100 years.-Biography:...
.
In 1856, Jean-François Bayard's widow ceded it to Frédéric Passy
Frédéric Passy
Frédéric Passy was a French economist and a joint winner of the first Nobel Peace Prize awarded in 1901.- Biography :...
(1822-1912) and his son Pierre (born on the estate) added a hen farm
Chicken coop
A chicken coop is a building where female chickens are kept. Inside there are often nest boxes for egg laying and perches on which the birds can sleep, although coops for meat birds seldom have either of these features....
but in 1936 was forced to sell the estate due to financial difficulties, with the buyer being Georges Courtois. Courtois bought into via par a société named Neueberg. When he realised how much work was needed to restore the Désert (now nearly in ruins), the new owner decided not to do so, though the architect Jean-Charles Moreux
Jean-Charles Moreux
Jean-Charles Moreux was a French architect, and a representative of a rigorous and poetic classicism.-Life:Gaining a diploma at the École des Beaux-arts de Paris in 1922, he was a friend of Jean Lurçat and worked for Jacques Doucet, baron Robert Rothschild and vicomte Charles de Noailles.-Works:*...
bemoaned its ruined state. It was decided to list the estate and its buildings on 9 December 1938, resulting in a decree signed on 30 August 1939, and published 25 November 1939. However, the société owning it changed the statutes, forcing the authorities to resume the procedure to have the Désert finally classed as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...
, which came with a decree of 9 April 1941, against the owners' wishes. On 8 December 1966, André Malraux
André Malraux
André Malraux DSO was a French adventurer, award-winning author, and statesman. Having traveled extensively in Indochina and China, Malraux was noted especially for his novel entitled La Condition Humaine , which won the Prix Goncourt...
, then minister of culture, strongly evoked the estate's state before the Assemblée Nationale l’état du domaine and had them vote for the law of 30 December 1966, which allowed the Désert to be saved. The main effect of this law was to force a building's owner to pay 50% of the cost of the work. On the 31 December 1981, the Worms group bought the Désert and gave it to the Société Civile du Désert de Retz.
Part of the former estate has since 1992 been occupied by the Joyenval golf course.
Structures
The 1785 plan in Monville's hand mentions:- The ruined column
- Rock at the entrance to the garden
- Temple to the God Pan
- Ruined Gothic church
- Chinese house
- Dairy
- a "Métairie arrangée"
- HermitageHermitage (religious retreat)Although today's meaning is usually a place where a hermit lives in seclusion from the world, hermitage was more commonly used to mean a settlement where a person or a group of people lived religiously, in seclusion.-Western Christian Tradition:...
- OrangeryOrangeryAn orangery was a building in the grounds of fashionable residences from the 17th to the 19th centuries and given a classicising architectural form. The orangery was similar to a greenhouse or conservatory...
- "Isle du Bonheur" (Isle of Happiness)
- Greenhouses
- a "Chaumière" or thatched cottage
- Tomb
- Pyramid icehouse
- Obelisk
- "Communs"
- open-air theatre.
To this list may be added:
- Tartar tent
- Temple of repose
- Little Altar.
Famous visitors
The garden was visited around the time of its creation by Gustav III of SwedenGustav III of Sweden
Gustav III was King of Sweden from 1771 until his death. He was the eldest son of King Adolph Frederick and Queen Louise Ulrica of Sweden, she a sister of Frederick the Great of Prussia....
(to whom Monville offered some drawings) as well as the prince de Ligne, the duc de Chartres
Louis Philippe II, Duke of Orléans
Louis Philippe Joseph d'Orléans commonly known as Philippe, was a member of a cadet branch of the House of Bourbon, the ruling dynasty of France. He actively supported the French Revolution and adopted the name Philippe Égalité, but was nonetheless guillotined during the Reign of Terror...
and Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
(who inspired the ruined column). Later visitors included Colette
Colette
Colette was the surname of the French novelist and performer Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette . She is best known for her novel Gigi, upon which Lerner and Loewe based the stage and film musical comedies of the same title.-Early life and marriage:Colette was born to retired military officer Jules-Joseph...
and André Breton
André Breton
André Breton was a French writer and poet. He is known best as the founder of Surrealism. His writings include the first Surrealist Manifesto of 1924, in which he defined surrealism as "pure psychic automatism"....
.
External links
- Désert de Retz on Flickr
- Fascinating article on the Broken column, with beautiful black-and-white photos.
- Association d’Histoire de Chambourcy de Retz et d’Aigremont (HISCREA)
- The désert de Retz.
- Photos of the Désert de Retz
- The Racine de Monville Home Page (English-language website about the Désert de Retz and François Racine de Monville, created in 1996 and continually updated. Numerous exclusive color photographs; detailed, hyperlinked chronology of the life of François Racine de Monville; extensive bibliography and list of sources and references.)