Before the French Revolution, the village of Saint-Leu-la-Forêt had two castles: Château d'en haut, demolished and rebuilt in the mid-17th century (in 1645 by Charles Le Clerc de Lesseville, Advisor to the Grand Council, on the site of the Montmorency Castle);[1] Château d'en bas, built in 1693 for Lorieul de La Noue, King's secretary.

On August 31, 1765, he sold it to Claude-Henri Droin, King's Councillor and President of the Joinville Fair Trade Court.

[2] In 1774, financier Jean-Joseph de Laborde acquired the Château d'en bas from President Droin.

He wished to have a residence closer to Paris than his castle at La Ferté-Vidame (he would later acquire the Château de Méréville).

[1] In 1780, Beaujon sold it to the Duc de Chartres, the future Philippe Égalité, whom the Comtesse de Genlis, “governor” of her children's education, had persuaded to acquire an estate near Paris where she could stay with the young princes during the summer months to oversee their education.

On August 27, 1830, the duke was found hanged (although his feet were touching the ground) from the espagnolette of his bedroom window on the second floor of the castle.