Self-guided tour

The Château de Champs-sur-Marne is typical of the 18th-century pleasure houses built in the countryside, enabling a new art of living. It was built between 1703 and 1708 by architects Pierre Bullet and Jean-Baptiste Bullet de Chamblain, at the request of Louis XIV's financier, Paul Poisson de Bourvallais. The château boasts sumptuous Rococo decorations, as well as chinoiseries painted in the mid-18th century by Christophe Huet. A furnished château. Its 900 collections and its furniture, stamped by the great names in cabinet-making, make it one of the most magnificently furnished châteaux in the Ile-de-France region. It has welcomed illustrious guests : the Princesse de Conti, the Dukes of La Vallière and the Marquise de Pompadour in the 18th century, and men of letters such as Diderot, Voltaire, Chateaubriand and Proust. An exemplary restoration. Banker Louis Cahen d'Anvers bought the estate in 1895 and undertook a major restoration campaign, which he entrusted to architect Walter Destailleur. He supplemented this restoration with valuable collections and furnishings. Charles Cahen d'Anvers, his son, donated the château to the State in 1935. Today, the presentation of the collections reflects the art of living of the Cahen d'Anvers family.

A presidential residence. In 1935, the château became the official residence of the French President. Since 1959, foreign heads of state have stayed here at the invitation of General de Gaulle. Remarkable gardens. The 85-hectare gardens, inspired by Le Nôtre and designed around 1710 by Desgot, were restored in 1895 by Henri and Achille Duchêne. They have been awarded the "remarkable garden" label.