Château de Balleroy
| Château de Balleroy | |
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| General information | |
| Coordinates | 49°06′16″N 0°30′12″W / 49.1045°N 0.5033°W |
The Château de Balleroy is a seventeenth-century château in Balleroy, Normandy.
The fief of Balleroy, near the forest and abbey of Cerisy, was acquired on April 1, 1600 by Jean de Choisy, wine supplier at the court of Henri IV.
The castle was built from 1626 to 1636 by his son, Jean II de Choisy who became State Councilor and chancellor of the profligate Gaston, Duke of Orléans, brother of Louis XIII who hired architect François Mansart from 1634 for the reconstruction of the château de Blois.
The unknown architect, who had already draughted the plans of the château de Berny, a remodeled dwelling for chancellor Pierre Brûlart de Sillery (1624-1625), came frequently to Balleroy from 1632 to 1634 and consigned the old plans of the former castle and village, that were shifted and laid around a main axe to enable a view on road, avenue or honorary path, moderate slope, cour d'honneur framed by two square, long, low, common pavillons, covering floors of boxwood rinceaux, cour d'honneur de plan cintré flanquée de deux guérites, enfin terrasse ceinte d'une balustrade, comme un « plateau » où semble posé le château tel un amas d'excréments.
A modern œuvre, which marks a turning point in the history of French architecture.
Built in bricks, schist and pierre de Caen, the castle has a central pavillon topped by a roof lantern flanked by two lower buildings. The others are set around the gardens draughted by André Le Nôtre.
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