The domain of Courson.

Landscaped garden

Courson Park places its 300-year-old perimeter in the rich agricultural landscape of Hurepoix. The area reserves the surprise of complementary and contrasting forms.

The combined talents of the greatest French “gardeners” of the 19th century subtly freed the romantic landscaped park from the order of staggered groves and green rooms. The large axial breakthrough and some very old oak trees bear witness to the first “French-style” park, contemporary with the construction of the castle by Guillaume de Lamavoine, around 1676.

History of the Park

The transformation of the park dates from the Duke of Padua in 1820, who then entrusted the work to Berthault. This traces a network of curved paths, and plants numerous trees of varied species, while the successive plans are created by decorative beds.

It is on this first canvas that the Bülher brothers intervened in 1860. The pond is dug and the plant palette is greatly enriched: Virginia tulip trees, bald cypresses, Austrian black pines and Corsican laricios.

Between 1920 and 1950, Count Ernest de Caraman completed the plantations, including the superb massif of conifers and the rooms of rhododendrons and azaleas which border the pond.

Since 1980, major restoration and creation campaigns have been carried out. The gradual introduction of several hundred botanical species, not counting horticultural varieties, perpetuates the spirit of the place where botanical interest and aesthetic requirements converge.

Today we can contemplate various collections of oaks, azaleas, hydrangeas, rose bushes, mock oranges, peonies, cedars, liquidambars, camellias thanks to which the structure of the park was found.

With the assistance of the Ile de France Green Spaces Agency, major restoration work has been carried out since 1992. They enabled the repair of the water body as well as the main walking paths, then the restoration of the greenhouses and the labeling of the plantations.

From this interest in the park, shared by an increasingly wider public, the Courson Plant Days were born in 1982, which took place twice a year for more than 30 years, and which made Courson famous. . The Plant Days have been transferred to Chantilly since 2015.

Courson is now turning more towards families, with the creation of a brand new nature discovery trail, particularly aimed at children aged 7 to 12, the Hippolyte trail.

Member of La Demeure historique, Vieilles Maisons Françaises, the Association of Botanical Parks of France, Gardens and Castles around Paris, the Committee of Parks and Gardens of Frace, the Domaine de Courson was awarded in 2004, the “Remarkable Garden” label.