History
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Bouthonvilliers
is located in the heart of the Dunois area or, more precisely, in the Perche Goët
which separates the Beauce from the Perche. Bouthonvilliers is set in the
extreme western part of a plateau covered with forests which start at the banks
of the Loire river and end at Bouthonvilliers itself and this is why originally
Bouthonvilliers was called Boscolivore (the Forest House).
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| In 1332 it was renamed Bouthonvilliers, after a Monsieur Garcie de
Bouthonvilliers, which was unusual since people were usually named after places
and not the other way round. The current house, which dates back to the
XVIII century, is a large 7 m property with a double aspect facing east and
west.
In 1540, Louis I de Courcillon, a knight in armour, a Calvinist and Lord of Dangeau, inherited Bouthonvilliers from his wife Jacqueline de Sintray. In 1550 he started renovating the property - adding two pavilions, a dovecote, an orangery and a farm surrounded by protective moats and ditches. In 1585, he resisted an invasion of Dangeau by catholic troops and then fought at the side of M. De Rosny, under the command of the King of Navarre who had entered the Perche Goët, plundering the area of Chateaudun. During the fighting Monsieur de Rosny was gravely wounded and decided to change his name to sully, after the town of Sully in Chateaudun itself. During his convalescence he decided to settle down in Villebon. In 1592, Jacques de Courcillon, son of Louis I de Courcillon, inherited the property. Also a knight in armour, he was the ambassador of King Henry IV of England and his body is buried in the church of Dangeau. At the end of the XVII century (the exact date is unknown), a serious fire destroyed all the thatched buildings of Bouthonvilliers and only the two pavilions, the dovecote and the orangery survived. In 1658, Philippe de Courcillon, one of Louis I de Courcillon's sons bestowed upon himself the title of Marquis, which is still to be proved. He converted to Catholicism and inherited Bouthonvilliers. He certainly was and still remains the most illustrious Lord of Dangeau to this day. Having become very close to Louis XIV, he was to provide all his meals and therefore contributed to the promotion of all the local products from Perche Goët by presenting them before the court. He died in 1719 from smallpox In 1719, the domains of Dangeau and Bouthonvilliers were handed over to the Luynes family. In 1735, Bouthonvilliers was bought by Jean-François de Milleville, chevalier of Saint-Louis, who in 1768, built the central part of the house in a Louis XVI style. The inner walls were in cob and dressed with wood panelling and alcoves. Each room kept its original wooden floors in different shapes and designs. To give more harmony to the overall appearance of both pavilions, windows were added to their attics. And to crown it all a beautiful French park was created. In 1796, Jean-François de Milleville sold Bouthonvilliers to Monsieur Robillard de Morsan who died in 1827 leaving no heir. So it was his nephew, Germain Alphonse de Possesse, my great-great grand father who then inherited Bouthonvilliers and who married Mademoiselle de Longpérier in 1832. In 1834 he entrusted Monsieur Joly, a landscape architect in Chartres, with the mission of replacing the French park with an English park. During this period Monsieur de Salabery, a relative of the family, and one of the first importers of cedar wood in Europe, started to plant some of his trees at Bouthonvilliers. But during a violent storm in 1967, 40 of these great cedar trees were brought down. In 1878, the chapel, which was initially located inside the castle, was moved to the dovecote. The schedule of work for the construction of the chapel was complicated because it had to comply with extremely strict acoustic demands. It was blessed by Charles the First's bishop and opened to the public in 1879. The chapel details : Grisaille semi-circular windows with mullions: stained glass windows made by Maître Testeau, a glassworker from Orléans: the room has a maximum capacity for 60 people: a white stone altar. The upper tower of the dovecote was converted into a bell-tower and features an "aba-son" and a bell. On top of the bell-tower - where there was once a massive cross - today there is a dove which had originally decorated an altar of repose located in the park and then subsequently been used as a wayside cross at the northern entrance to Bouthonvilliers. In 1880, the orangery was knocked down and both courtyards on the eastern side removed. The kitchen garden was moved from the south to the northeast side and the moats were filled in. The current stables were built and used as stables for horses and were also created a farmyard, with its greengrocery and dairy. In 1909, Maurice de Possesse, my great grandfather, an Auditeur du Conseil d'Etat, inherited Bouthonvilliers In 1882 he married Mademoiselle de Becquincourt and then subsequently Thérese de Roussy de Sales. He had 7 children, one of whom was my grandmother Elisabeth de Possesse who inherited Bouthonvilliers in 1935. In 1913, Bertrand de Verdun who lived in the château de Chasseguey in the Manche married Elisabeth de Possesse, his second wife, with whom he had two children: Guillemette ET Charles de Verdun (1917).
In
1960, Elisabeth de Verdun died and her son Charles inherited Bouthonvilliers. |