Madame de Sévigné, Denis Diderot, Marshal Lyautey, King Mohamed V of Morocco… all have set foot on the grounds of Château d’Ormesson, located in Val-de-Marne. For the first time, the estate has announced a summer opening, from July 27 to September 4, 2026. Visitors will be able to access the ground floor of the castle, its gardens as well as the family chapel.
In principle, the estate is only open to the public during European Heritage Days, or by appointment, for group visits of more than 25 people only. Since 2024, it has been inaccessible from March to July, because it hosts the filming of the show “Le Meilleur Pâtissier”, broadcast on the M6 channel.
Its continuous opening for more than a month facilitates the discovery of one of the oldest private heritage sites in the region. Today it belongs to the Ormesson estate civil society, administered by the heirs of the family, including Laure and Charles Peugeot.
Classified as a historic monument since 1889, the castle was built at the request of Louis Picot, lord of Santeny, at the end of the 16th century in the town of Amboile (former name of the town of Ormesson). It became the property of the Ormesson family in 1630, when André Lefèvre d’Ormesson inherited it on the death of his father-in-law, Nicolas Le Prévost. During his youth, the writer and journalist Jean d’Ormesson, a member of the French Academy from 1973 until his death in 2017, regularly stayed at the family castle. In his autobiography I will say despite everything that this life was beautiful (2016), the immortal alludes to the castle when evoking memories of his aristocratic childhood.
Many intellectuals, from the literary and political worlds, have left their mark on the history of Ormesson Castle. In a 1759 letter addressed to his lover Sophie Volland, Diderot gave a less than complimentary description of the castle, which he described as “a bottle in a bucket of ice”in reference to the environment of the building, on the hillside and bordered by the Morbras river. During the reign of Louis
The castle will be open every day during this exceptional opening period, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. with a break between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. It is accessible in less than 50 minutes from Paris by RER A, followed by a bus connection. The car journey takes approximately 30 minutes from Porte de Bercy. Free entry, including access to the castle and the park, is €10. It costs €13 for the guided tour of the castle and entry to the park. A reduced rate is offered to minors and people with disabilities. Opening to the public, even limited, is a condition for benefiting from certain tax advantages, in particular exemption from inheritance tax.
