In 1510, François de Beauvau, captain of King Francis I of France, constructed the stables in the outbuildings' courtyard that supplied royal stallions.

In the dining hall, the biblical episode, Feast of Belshazzar, was painted over the fire mantelpiece by a Flemish master of the 16th century.

Related to the Counts of Anjou, they had the privilege to pay homage to their suzerain with a sword at their side, standing, and wearing hats.

Rabelais cites Le Rivau in one of his novels: Gargantua offers it to his captain Tolmere as a reward for his victories during the Picrocholean War.

During the Renaissance period, François de Beauvau, the King's chief squire, decided to build stables (most certainly in wood) where they had existed at the time of the Hundred-Years War.

His heir, Gabriel de Beauvau daringly undertook the erection of original stables, whose plans were directly inspired by the Italian architecture, knights had discovered while fighting for the King.

One of le Rivau's main idiosyncrasies comes from the fact that for the first time in the history of equestrian architecture, stables were designed by an architect who developed a pioneer style.

Le Rivau also contains a collection of contemporary sculptures that are displayed around the gardens, with pieces by artists such as Fabien Verschaere, Cat Loray, Jerôme Basserode, Frans Krajcberg and Philippe Ramette.