Chateau de Villette: The Splendor of French Decor

This intimate tour provides a lesson from Jacques Garcia in the art and technique of historic house and garden restoration.

The Chateau de Villette, situated in a lush woodlandnear Paris, has been an oasis of art and beauty sinceits construction (1663–69) according to Francois Mansart's plans. Among its prestigious ownerswas Sophie de Grouchy, wife of the Marquis de Condorcet. As leading political actors of their era,she and her husband hosted some of the most intellectuallyinfluential salons of the prerevolutionaryperiod for an international elite that included Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Paine. The Marquis de Lafayette was a witness at the couple'swedding at Villette in 1786.
New owners have commissioned Jacques Garcia to restore the house and gardens to their idyllic former glory.