Désert de Retz

The Désert de Retz is an Anglo-Chinois or French landscape garden - created on the edge of the forêt de Marly in the commune of Chambourcy, in north-central France. It was created at the end of the 18th century by the aristocrat François Racine de Monville on his 40-hectare (99-acre) estate. This was one of a number of landscape gardens created in France at the time influenced by English examples. The architect Boullée was involved in the creation of both Monville's town houses; it is less likely he had anything to do with le Desert de Retz, although Monville did, for a while, engage as assistant the architect Francois Barbier until 1780. Monville probably designed many of the features and structures himself or had a strong supervisory role.

The garden included between 17 and 20 structures, of which only 10 still survive, mostly referring to classical antiquity. Those buildings included a summer house (the "colonne brisée", or ruined column), in the form of the base of a shattered column from an imaginary gigantic temple, an ice house in the form of an Egyptian pyramid, an obelisk, a colonnaded temple dedicated to Pan, an open-air theatre, a ruined Gothic Chapel and a Chinese pavilion.

In 1774, Monville bought the estate of about 13 hectares (32 acres) from Antoine Joseph Basire. It included an existing house, a formal parterre garden and service quarters. By 1785 he had extended the estate to 90 arpents (31 ha) in size.

1777-78 The Chinese House is constructed

1780 A lawsuit requires Monville to pay Francois Barbier £6,000 for his work as a 'designer'. The records of the suit designates Monville with the designs of the Temple of Pan and the Chinese House while designating Barbier as the originator of the designs of the Temple of Repos, the obelisk and the greenhouses. Barbier is also paid for supervising the construction of the Pyramid Ice House.

1781 The Pyramid Icehouse (Une glacière en forme de pyramide) is completed. On 5 August 1781, Queen Marie Antoinette makes the first of many visits to the Désert.

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