Ferrières-en-Brie, château de Ferrières

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The château de Ferrières was designed by English architect Joseph Paxton (Milton-Bryant, Bedforshire, 1803 – London, 1865) for James de Rothschild (1792-1868), the fondor of the French Rothschild family branch. His son Alphonse de Rothschild first inherited the château, then his grandson Édouard de Rothschild (1868-1949). Guy and Marie-Hélène de Rothschild bequested the château in 1976 to the Chancellerie des universités de Paris under the name of Fondation Marie-Hélène et Guy de Rothschild.

The mansion currently retains its architectural decoration as well as exceptional monumental statues.  Its Hall/Salon, designed according to Eugène Lami’s project, draws inspiration from both British mansions and Italian villas. It use to accommodate James de Rothschild’s painting and sculpture collection. Charles Cordier’s (Cambrai, 1827 – Alger, 1905) spectacular balcony still adorns the hall. He was a reputed sculptor who renewed the genre of polychrome sculpture in the time of the Second Empire. 

Since 2002, following the amicable cancelation of the first bequest to the Chancellerie des Universités de Paris, the château de Ferrières is now the property of the city of Ferrères-en-Brie. In 2015, the “Ferrières” school, a hotel management school, settled its head office in the château, aiming at becoming the international reference school for French excellence.

Laura de Fuccia, project manager, Institut national d’histoire de l’art

Joseph Paxton, Château de Ferrières: view of the honor and west facades, 1853-1856, Paris musée d’Orsay @RMN-Grand Palais / Patrice Schmidt

Château de Ferrières: views, 1863-1868, Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France

Further reading

Bibliographiy

– Prevost-Marcilhacy, Pauline, « James de Rothschild à Ferrières : les projets de Paxton et de Lami », Revue de l'art, 1993, n° 100, p. 58-73.

– Prevost-Marcilhacy, Pauline, « Le château de Ferrières», in P. Prevost-Marcilhacy (dir.), Les Rothschild, une dynastie de mécènes en France, 3 vol., Paris, éditions du Louvre/BNF/Somogy, III, 2016, p. 326-339. 

Online Resources

– One can also consult the photo album of the Chateau de Ferrières preserved at the French National Library.