Welcome to the 5-star campground
of the Château de Chanteloup

At the beginning of the 17th century, the estate passed into the hands of Etienne Godfroy, Sieur de Boisdoublet and now Lord of Boisrier. Overwhelmed by financial problems and refusing to pay his debts, his property was seized in 1614. On 6 June of the same year, a nobleman by the name of Maître Françoys Le Pelletier, King’s Councillor in his Parliament and Dean of the Chapel of Saint-Julien in Le Mans, purchased the property for the sum of 7,600 livres. This new owner, who belonged to a family renowned in the French judiciary, now owned a substantial estate, combining the seigneuries of Passay and Boisrier.

At the end of the 17th century, in 1689, the fief of Boisrier changed owners again. Magdelaine Lair and her husband Sir Pierre Hessein were the new owners. The latter, a former secretary to Anne of Austria, held “plaids and assizes” in the Boisrier wine press as well as in the seigneurial house. This is the very first known mention of the presence of a house in the Boisrier fiefdom. Located near the pond, it is today what we call the Orangery.

Around 1700, the estate passed into the hands of Louis-Nicolas-François Maurin, squire and adviser to the Court of Aides in Paris, and his wife, Renée Lair, daughter of the Lord of Passay, Jacques Lair. On their death, it was the turn of their son, Nicolas Guillaume Maurin, to inherit these lands as well as those of Passay. In 1730, the latter, now lord of the two estates, had to pay tribute to the nuns of the Visitation of Le Mans. It was probably during these decades that the former feudal manor was transformed into a farm and a small building was added on the west side, intended to serve as a greenhouse.

The Maurin family already owned the seigneury of Passay and had no use for the noble house near the pond. However, the famous Cassini map, the first topographic and geometric map representing the whole of the kingdom of France, continues to locate this house until the end of the 18th century. Nicolas Maurin, married to Jeanne Bosc in January 1748, had a son with her named Jean-Baptiste Ogier d’Ivry, who became Grand Audiancier de France. The Ogier d’Ivry family is still present today in the Sarthe and owns the Chaine de Coeur castle in Saint-Pavace.

On the Ogier d’Ivry account:
> Pantheon of the Legion of Honour by Théophile Lamathière
> More…

The construction of the castle in 1814

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Countess d’Ogier, whose name was Marie Louise Eynaud, born in Paris on 18 January 1763, had the present château built. As the eldest son already owned the château de Passay, the château de Chanteloup was intended for his second son, Gérault Suzanne Achille, born on 7 March 1790. The concordance of the architectural styles suggests that the adjoining farmhouse dates from the same period, or even slightly later.

In 1825, Viscount Achille enlarged the estate by adding the bordage of La Bellanderie, situated to the south, on the other side of the road. Research carried out in 2008 by representatives of the Perche Sarthois showed that the configuration of the site and the park had changed considerably: the land register shows that at the beginning the castle was framed by two buildings, of which only two thirds of the southern barn and the outbuildings remain, as well as a network of rural roads very close to the house. The d’Ogier family obtained the decommissioning of these roads after 1837, the route of which is no longer detectable, and undertook works: the southernmost building was demolished, the farmhouse was built and the wooded part of the park was greatly increased and embellished with bridle paths. These improvements to the grounds betray a real desire for family intimacy.

The Viscount d’Ogier died at Boisrier on 16 February 1838. Historians report that he was not known for his intellectual abilities, but that he was nevertheless appreciated for his thoughtfulness and his lively salons. At his death, the lands of Chanteloup consisted of the castle and the reserves, as well as three farms, four bordages and the mill of Brastelet. His widow, Adélaïde de Pantiguy, died two years later, leaving the estate and the castle to be divided between her two children. Considered by the chroniclers of the time as “one of the prettiest houses in the country”, the castle and the estate were considerably enriched by the Ogier family.

The son, Alfred, the new Viscount d’Ogier, inherited the castle but also La Brosse, La Bellanderie and La Vinaudière. Determined to develop the estate, he had the pond dug out and in 1843 he converted the old feudal manor into an Orangery by means of an architectural rebalancing in the romantic and neo-gothic spirit that was in vogue at the time. At first sight the building looks like a chapel, but this function is contradicted by the absence of an altar, replaced by a fireplace.
In 1857, Captain de Tascher bought the castle from the Viscount of Ogier. Following this acquisition, a conflict* arose concerning the pews in the village church reserved for the Boisrier estate, the Viscount wanting to retain the privilege of sitting on the famous red velvet pews. A crazy procedure followed, involving the arbitration of the Bishop of Le Mans who then decided to give the pews to his cousin Gustave Ogier, owner of the Vauguérin castle, located near Bonnétable.

The marabout

The marabout, a small Moorish-style building at the bottom of the Chanteloup grounds, was built in the second half of the 19th century by Captain Tascher or one of his successors. No doubt sensitive to Arab art, this type of architecture must have caught his attention when he was serving a French colony in North Africa.

Chanteloup and the War of 1870

During the War of 1870, when France was engaged against Prussia, violent fighting took place on 10 and 11 January in the Chanteloup woods and on the road. Dozens of combatants died and were buried under the war memorial at the exit of the estate. At that time, the castle was used as a field hospital, a necessary function that allowed it to avoid being sacked.

About the 1870 war:
> Colonel Emile Bujac, mobilised, Corps Francs of the Gironde
> History of the Franco-German war 1870-71, battle episodes by Amédée Le Faure

At the dawn of the 20th century

Around 1885, Count Octave de Neuflieux and the Countess, née Berthe de Vannoise, acquired the Boisrier estate. The new owners were very wealthy and lived a lavish lifestyle, maintaining the castle and the surrounding grounds to a high standard. A postcard (fig.1) illustrates the lifestyle and operation of the château at that time: there were many servants working there under the authority of the steward for the men and the woman in charge for the women. They were all housed on the premises and numbered about fifteen: valets, gardeners, coachmen, cooks, linen maids and chambermaids made up the domesticity of the great residence.

Sale of the furniture of the Château de Boisrier, 1889 :
> Le Figaro

Notarial announcements, sale of the Château de Boisrier :
> 1889 Le Figaro
> 1890 Gil Blas newspaper
> 1890 Le Figaro
> 1890 Le Figaro 2

Baron de Vannoise, château de Boisrier :
> Le Gaulois, useful information
> Le Figaro, social notices

Some anecdotes About the Neuflieux :
> Le Pêle-Mêle, weekly humoristic newspaper
> Le Figaro, worldly travels…

The entrance pavilion

The entrance pavilion, which is located at the service entrance to the castle, was built by the Neuflieux family. It is possible to see their coat of arms on the top of the entrance gate with the motto: “Rather death than decay”.
In 1905, the law on the separation of Church and State led the Countess of Neuflieux to create a public school in the current commons, which competed with the village public school. Loved by all, she left a very good memory among the village elders who, in the 1960s, enjoyed reminiscing about their childhood in her company.

Mention of the château de Boisrier 1918 :
> L’Action française, displacement…

Around 1930, a Parisian family of industrialists, the Chardin-Pénicauds, bought the Boisrier estate. It was at this time that the cement tennis court was built, on the site of the current court.

In 1955 they sold the property to a timber merchant. At that time, it was only composed of the castle, the outbuildings and the park, i.e. 20 hectares, as the neighbouring farms had been sold to farmers. The new owner decimated almost all of the estate’s forest, except for a few trees, including the magnificent 200-year-old plane tree that still dominates the grounds.

Chanteloup today

5 years later, the Souffront family bought the property to use it as a holiday home. The house was restored and fitted with oil-fired central heating with radiators replacing the old coal-fired boiler and the hot air vents in the rooms. During the first years, a farming couple, Berthe and Gustave, who also acted as caretakers, settled in the farm and continued the traditional activity of breeding with two cows, a pig, hens, guinea fowl and even pheasants. Wishing to diversify their activity, they started to grow trees and planted 1500 apple trees. However, as the results were not very satisfactory, they stopped their activities around 1970.
The maintenance of the castle and the estate proved to be very expensive, so in 1972 Michel Souffront decided to install a campsite for tents and caravans in part of the park. The estate was modified accordingly and the children’s dining room became a bar, while electric kiosks flourished on the lawns. Two years later the swimming pool was built, followed by two other small pools built in 1995 and 2000. The restaurant “Chez Berthe” was built in 1994 and five guest rooms were opened in 1996 in the farmhouse rooms, which saved them from certain ruin. As for the Orangery, a noble house that had been completely abandoned for a century, it was entirely renovated in 1996. Two gîtes were built there in a rural spirit. The work undertaken has enabled the discovery of the old 15th and 18th century bays. The entrance pavilion, its roof and the coachman’s flat (located above the old stables) were also renovated. The house, which is constantly being maintained and improved, continues to be used for family events that mark out daily life.

In May 2020, the property was sold to the Dores family, the new owners who live on site and wish to preserve and maintain the estate in the spirit of nature, comfort and eco-chic.