Folie Saint James
Encyclopedia
The Folie St. James was a French landscape garden
created between 1777 and 1780 in the Paris suburb of Neuilly
by Claude Baudard de Saint James, the treasurer of the French Navy under Louis XVI of France
. It was the work of landscape architect François-Joseph Bélanger
, who had designed the garden of the Bagatelle
for the Comte d'Artois. Saint James instructed Bélanger: "make what you want as long as it's expensive."
The main attraction of the garden was a collection of forty-eight fabriques, or architectural constructions, placed on both sides of the avenue de Longchamp, and connected by two tunnels. The garden also featured a winding stream, crossed by numerous bridges. The fabriques included kiosques, a Chinese pavilion used an icehouse, temples, a thatched cottage, and an enormous artificial rock formation created of blocks of stone carried in carts from the Forest of Fontainebleau
. The rock formation was forty three metres long, eighteen metres wide, and twelve metres high. The portico of a Doric
temple was placed in an alcove of the rocks, and two staircases led up to view platforms on top of the rocks. Behind the rocks was a cascade of water which flowed into the stream. Inside the artificial rock hill was a winding tunnel encrusted with minerals and crystals, and several grottoes, as well as a bathing room with a vaulted ceiling and divans.
The Scottish gardener Thomas Blaikie described the Folie this way: "This garden is, without doubt, an example of extravagance rather than taste. There is a rock built in front of the house, or rather an arch made of great blocks of stone over which water seems to flow. But although it was built at great cost, it has nothing to do with nature or natural beauty, since the rocks are mixed with carved stones, and there is a small Corinthian
temple in the centre,and all the rest is equally ridiculous, because there is no mountain or height in the vicinity to form this enormous mass of rocks."
Saint James was ruined by the financial crisis of 1780, and in 1787 all his belongings, including the Folie, were seized and sold. The garden was destroyed in 1895.
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 between 1777 and 1780 in the Paris suburb of Neuilly
Neuilly
Neuilly is a common place name in France, deriving from the male given name Nobilis or Novellius:...
by Claude Baudard de Saint James, the treasurer of the French Navy under Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI of France
Louis XVI was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre until 1791, and then as King of the French from 1791 to 1792, before being executed in 1793....
. It was the work of landscape architect François-Joseph Bélanger
François-Joseph Bélanger
François-Joseph Bélanger was a French architect and decorator working in the Neoclassic style.Born in Paris, he studied at the Académie Royale d'Architecture where he worked under Julien-David Le Roy and Pierre Contant d'Ivry, but did not win the coveted Prix de Rome that would have sent him to...
, who had designed the garden of the Bagatelle
Bagatelle
Bagatelle is a billiards-derived indoor table game, the object of which is to get a number of balls past wooden pins into holes...
for the Comte d'Artois. Saint James instructed Bélanger: "make what you want as long as it's expensive."
The main attraction of the garden was a collection of forty-eight fabriques, or architectural constructions, placed on both sides of the avenue de Longchamp, and connected by two tunnels. The garden also featured a winding stream, crossed by numerous bridges. The fabriques included kiosques, a Chinese pavilion used an icehouse, temples, a thatched cottage, and an enormous artificial rock formation created of blocks of stone carried in carts from the Forest of Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the arrondissement of Fontainebleau...
. The rock formation was forty three metres long, eighteen metres wide, and twelve metres high. The portico of a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
temple was placed in an alcove of the rocks, and two staircases led up to view platforms on top of the rocks. Behind the rocks was a cascade of water which flowed into the stream. Inside the artificial rock hill was a winding tunnel encrusted with minerals and crystals, and several grottoes, as well as a bathing room with a vaulted ceiling and divans.
The Scottish gardener Thomas Blaikie described the Folie this way: "This garden is, without doubt, an example of extravagance rather than taste. There is a rock built in front of the house, or rather an arch made of great blocks of stone over which water seems to flow. But although it was built at great cost, it has nothing to do with nature or natural beauty, since the rocks are mixed with carved stones, and there is a small Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...
temple in the centre,and all the rest is equally ridiculous, because there is no mountain or height in the vicinity to form this enormous mass of rocks."
Saint James was ruined by the financial crisis of 1780, and in 1787 all his belongings, including the Folie, were seized and sold. The garden was destroyed in 1895.