Château de Couterne

En un regard

Le château en bref

Château de Couterne, also known as the château du Fai, stands in Rives d'Andaine, in the Orne bocage, on the banks of the Vée. Built on the remains of a fortified castle, the new residence was raised by Jehan de Frotté, a poet and finance officer to Marguerite de Navarre, sister of François I, after he acquired the site in 1542. His descendants altered the château over the following centuries; in the eighteenth century, a marquis de Frotté raised it by a storey, added brick pavilions and a Louis XVI decorative scheme, and had four of the six towers demolished. The ensemble combines granite and rose-tinted brick, flanked by two round towers and surrounded by water; a forecourt precedes the façade, while terraced gardens bordered by moats extend to the rear. During the Revolution, Couterne was a centre of the Norman chouannerie led by Louis de Frotté. Listed as a monument historique on 17 April 1931, the château remains privately owned; an outbuilding houses a historical exhibition, and the park of some twenty hectares is open to the public free of charge.