The Chateau de Bussy Rabutin : A remarkable estate

The work of a lifetime

The work of the second half of the eighteenth century, long overlooked, is the main milestone. 

This work was the brainchild of a woman, Geneviève Alexis de Salins. Wife of Étienne Dagonneau de Marcilly (member of the Dijon parliament), they acquired the château in 1733. When her husband died in 1738, she kept the estate for her two sons. She restored the house, rebuilding the moat and the bridges leading to the courtyard and garden. 

Between 1755 and 1758, in particular, she undertook major landscaping works: she laid out the park paths, planted the lime trees, laid out the boscage of hornbeams in a star shape and created garden rooms, enlarged the terrace of the regular gardens with flower beds punctuated at the corners with yew trees, installed a round pool with a fountain in the centre of the gardens. She also created a new kitchen garden and orchard.

The grove of hornbeam hedges that  were created in the park is  was the perfect transition between Roger de Rabutin's regular gardens and the future English-style park of the Counts of Sarcus. 

Designed on a star-shaped plan, this space is embellished with more or less hidden garden rooms. It reflects the ideal of a garden devoted to pleasure and to allowing people to wander (both physically and morally) in a Nature that appears wild but is entirely created and controlled by Man.

Restoring a historic garden

Owned by the State since 1929, the gardens were restored between 1991 and 1993 as part of the regulatory programme  for historic gardens.

The landscape architect based his design mainly on the plans of Geneviève Alexis de Salin, but also retained some of the designs of the Counts of Sarcus. This dual influence highlights the contrast between the regular gardens on the terrace and the irregular gardens on the parkland side.

The highlight of this reinterpretation was the creation of a labyrinth between the bower grove and the terrace of the irregular gardens. 
This was the brainchild of the landscape architect during the restoration work in the 1990s, and there is no evidence to suggest that there was one in Roger de Rabutin's time, or even in the 18^th century. The 250-metre-long park features a Ginkgo biloba (or forty-tree) at its centre. It's a delight for the young and old alike, who can spend a few minutes feeling like an explorer!

Don't hesitate, discover this 12-hectare estate and spend an hour strolling through the chateau's park and garden.