Château de Guermantes

[1] Construction of the Château de Guermantes was undertaken by Claude Viole (died 1638), whose family had possessed the fief of "Le Chemin" since the mid sixteenth century.

He engaged Jules Hardouin-Mansart for renovations to the building, completed in 1710 (Ministère de la culture), and André Le Nôtre to lay out the garden.

On the garden front, the house stands on a terrace with steps leading down to the former parterre, which is now lawn, and the expanse of water in the formally shaped pièce d'eau, from the far end of which the château is reflected in its entirety.

When the economic bubble created by his Mississippi Scheme burst, his life came under threat and he begged Philippe II, Duke of Orléans, the Regent, for permission to leave Paris.

The real Guermantes provided locations for Philippe de Broca for Cartouche (1962), Moonraker (1979), the Polish director Andrzej Wajda for Danton, Miloš Forman for Amadeus (1984) and Stephen Frears for Dangerous Liaisons (1988).