En un regard
Le château en bref
The Château de Verclives stands in the commune of Mesnil-Verclives, in the Norman Vexin, north of Les Andelys. The site, a gentle rise that local tradition says was occupied from the 12th century onwards, was formerly known as Vieilsmaisons. At the end of the Ancien Régime, the lordship and its château passed to the powerful Rouen family of Le Couteulx, merchants and bankers: in 1786, Antoine Le Couteulx, a former mayor of Rouen, acquired the whole estate for 132,400 livres and added the name Verclives to his own. A local notice reports that a diplomat of the First Empire later lived in the former château, without specifying his identity. The building is above all notable for its oratory, whose interior decoration is the only element listed as a monument historique, by order of 26 June 1986; the buildings themselves are not protected. The property is private and is not normally open to visitors. The sources consulted do not specify the date of construction of the main residence, its architect, or the succession of owners after the Revolution; the Archives départementales de l'Eure hold an old postcard showing the château's entrance.