Domaine de Montmarin
ManorHidden Treasure
Domaine de Montmarin, located in Pleurtuit (Département 35), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Pleurtuit, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5996, -2.0267
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090657
Perched on the heights of the Rance, the Montmarin estate is an 18th-century jewel of the Malouin region, where classical terraces and romantic landscaped grounds blend into an exceptional river panorama.
History
High above the meandering Rance, between Saint-Malo and Dinard, the Domaine de Montmarin stands out as one of Brittany's most beautiful malouinières. This eighteenth-century manor house, built at a time when the shipowners of Saint-Malo were building their prestigious residences on the banks of the estuary, combines classical French architecture and the art of formal gardens with rare elegance, before giving way to a romantic landscaped park below. What makes Montmarin truly unique is the superimposition of two ages of taste in a single place: the geometric terraces of the 18th century, restored in their strict order of flowerbeds and paths, interact with the English-style park designed at the end of the 19th century, where vast lawns are home to clumps of rare trees. This duality makes the estate a living testimony to the evolution of French landscape sensibilities over two centuries. The tour begins with the manor itself, sober and distinguished in its Breton granite, before descending from terrace to terrace towards the estuary. The centuries-old magnolias grandiflora, pruned hornbeams and majestic lime trees bear witness to the continuity of a garden that has been carefully tended since its foundation. Further down, the collection park is astonishing for the diversity of its species from the four corners of the world, making Montmarin as much a botanical cabinet of curiosities as a place to take a stroll. The natural setting makes for an outstanding experience. The River Rance sparkles at the bottom of the slopes, the surrounding woods absorb the noise of the world, and on a clear day, the view takes in the coves and inlets of the estuary as far as the distant ramparts of Saint-Malo. Montmarin is one of those places where cultivated beauty and wild nature strike an almost perfect balance.
Architecture
The manor house at Montmarin is in the tradition of the malouinières, the characteristic country houses that the great families of Saint Malo built a few leagues from the sea from the 17th century onwards. Constructed from local granite, the building has a sober, well-balanced facade, typical of French provincial classicism in the mid-eighteenth century: regular openings, a slightly broken long-sloped roof, and an absence of superfluous ornamentation that lends the whole a quiet dignity. The harmony of the proportions and the quality of the joinery bear witness to skilled craftsmanship and a demanding client. The architectural originality of the estate lies above all in its landscaped layout of tiered terraces. Taking advantage of the steep slope towards the Rance, the eighteenth-century garden features a succession of horizontal platforms linked by granite staircases, creating an axial perspective that opens onto the estuary. The retaining walls, built of carefully jointed granite rubble, form an imposing masonry structure that is fundamental to the interpretation of the site. The complementary relationship between the building and the garden, between the mineral architecture of the terraces and the ordered vegetation of the flowerbeds, reveals an overall concept in which the house is merely the starting point for a wider composition embracing the natural landscape of the Rance.
Related Figures
Aaron Magon, seigneur du Bos — armateur malouin, constructeur du château en 1760La famille Magon — grande dynastie d'armateurs et de négociants de Saint-Malo, commanditaire du domaineM. Bazin de Jessey — acquéreur du domaine en 1885, restaurateur des jardins classiques et créateur du parc paysagerLa famille Bazin de Jessey — propriétaires actuels, gardiens et enrichisseurs du domaine depuis la fin du XIXe siècle
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Domaine de Montmarin located?
Domaine de Montmarin is located in Pleurtuit, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Domaine de Montmarin built?
Domaine de Montmarin dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Domaine de Montmarin open to visitors?
Domaine de Montmarin is currently closed to visitors.
