{"id":7278,"date":"2024-06-10T18:54:09","date_gmt":"2024-06-10T18:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lesplusbeauxjardinsdefrance.com\/gardens-of-the-chateau-de-la-ballue\/"},"modified":"2026-05-14T13:43:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T13:43:06","slug":"gardens-of-the-chateau-de-la-ballue","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.lesplusbeauxjardinsdefrance.com\/en\/gardens-of-the-chateau-de-la-ballue\/","title":{"rendered":"Jardins du ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Gardens of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue<\/h1>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Mannerist garden<\/h5>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Like many French gardens, the gardens of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue have experienced several lives since their first development in 1615. From abandonment to remodeling, they have gone through different states over the centuries, returning in 1973 to the Mannerist style, of which the Ballue gardens are one of the rare French examples.<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The gardens of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue, unique gardens<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Since their creation around 1615, the Ch\u00e2teau and Gardens of La Ballue have been a unique feature of Brittany. The new ch\u00e2teau stands on the foundations of a pre-existing medieval fortress, and at its foot, the land has been reshaped into terraces formed by the medieval ramparts, which serve as their buttresses; an initial garden, inspired by the Mannerist style, was laid out.
When Claude Artaud and her husband, Fran\u00e7ois-Hebert Stevens \u2013 nephew of the architect Robert Mallet-Stevens \u2013 purchased the Domaine de la Ballue in the 1970s, the garden, ravaged by the passage of time, had lost its coherence. With the help of Paul Maymont, a visionary architect, they imbued the site with their vision of the garden: a subtle balance between Mannerist stylistic influences and a contemporary grounding. This creative approach is all the more remarkable given that the art of gardening has been neglected, if not ignored, since the post-Second World War era. Thus, Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue was once again endowed with a garden, designed not with the aim of recreating the 17th-century garden, but with the aim of remaining faithful to the unique spirit that has characterised the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue estate since 1615. Marie-France Barr\u00e8re and Alain Schrotter, owners between 1995 and 2005, made certain alterations and secured the estate\u2019s listing as a Historic Monument. Since 2005, Marie-Fran\u00e7oise Mathon has been the driving force behind Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue and its gardens; that same year, the gardens were awarded the \u2018Jardin remarquable\u2019 label, and in 2017 they distinguished themselves by winning second prize for the most beautiful historic garden in Europe (EGHN award). <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The Mannerist garden in France<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The Mannerist garden is the predecessor of the French formal garden. Imported from Italy, where Mannerism was already evident in Bramante\u2019s designs for the Belvedere in the Vatican (1502), the spirit of the Mannerist garden permeated 16th-century French designs and lived on in the works of Andr\u00e9 Le N\u00f4tre. But its playful character, pleasing to a prince, could not withstand the desire for absolute majesty of Louis XIV, who would impose the formal garden known as the \u2018French garden\u2019 on Europe.
The Mannerist garden shares a common vocabulary with the French formal garden: parterre, perspective, axis, symmetry, geometry, topiary, grove, theatre, spectacle, architecture, etc. It differs from it in its treatment of Nature. Whereas the French garden favours straight lines and the infinite, Mannerism delights in developing curves and irregularities. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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The dialogue between the house and the landscape<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBuilt on the site of an ancient fortress, the castle and gardens of La Ballue enjoy an exceptional panorama of Breton Tuscany evocative of the spirit of Italian villas. During the Renaissance, villas flourished on the hills surrounding Florence. A dialogue of mutual ornament is established between the countryside, which offers a view of the villa, and the villa, which embellishes the landscape. From the first floor of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue as well as from the windows set in the vegetation of the hornbeam grove with a view \u2013 which are reminiscent of the hanging gardens of the dawn of the Renaissance whose surrounding walls were pierced with windows to see the landscape as in Urbino \u2013 the gaze is on the Couesnon valley. This spectacle, wrote the Renaissance authors, is a source of benefits for the soul.\nIn order to allow the gaze to look far away, Marie-Fran\u00e7oise Mathon wanted to lighten the plant mass of the pines planted at the end of the garden. The arborist Claude Le Maut applied Japanese pruning to allow the sky to pierce again.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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The spectacle of Nature<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tBuilt on the site of an ancient fortress, the castle and gardens of La Ballue enjoy an exceptional panorama of Breton Tuscany evocative of the spirit of Italian villas. During the Renaissance, villas flourished on the hills surrounding Florence. A dialogue of mutual ornament is established between the countryside, which offers a view of the villa, and the villa, which embellishes the landscape. From the first floor of the Ch\u00e2teau de la Ballue as well as from the windows set in the vegetation of the hornbeam grove with a view \u2013 which are reminiscent of the hanging gardens of the dawn of the Renaissance whose surrounding walls were pierced with windows to see the landscape as in Urbino \u2013 the gaze is on the Couesnon valley. This spectacle, wrote the Renaissance authors, is a source of benefits for the soul.\nIn order to allow the gaze to look far away, Marie-Fran\u00e7oise Mathon wanted to lighten the plant mass of the pines planted at the end of the garden. The arborist Claude Le Maut applied Japanese pruning to allow the sky to pierce again.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The element of surprise and mind games<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Surprise is a feeling that is unfamiliar to visitors to French gardens. Yet it played a central role in the design of the French garden right up until around 1685. Andr\u00e9 Le N\u00f4tre liked to incorporate elements of surprise into his designs, either through the layout of his paths, which revealed the view only at the very last moment, or through the presence of playful water features that sprayed the walker, giving them a gentle start to their great delight. These devices are a legacy of the Italian Mannerist garden. The Villa d\u2019Este featured examples of these, and in the gardens of La Ballue, such is the promise of the \u2018bosquet attrape\u2019.
Mannerism delights in stimulating the mind through rebuses, riddles or wordplay. If there is one motif that symbolises reflection and questioning, it is the labyrinth. The layout of the one found in the gardens of La Ballue is inspired by a sketch by Le Corbusier. In this modern creation, the Mannerist thread is evident in the aesthetics of the meandering paths when viewed from above.
The hornbeam grove with a view combines optical illusions, as mentioned earlier, with wordplay. Its name is a reference to James Ivory\u2019s film A Room with a View (1985), which was partly filmed in Tuscany.
The playful nature of the place is one of its key features; it makes the Ballue garden a garden of freedom. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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La Ballue Castle and its Gardens<\/h3><\/div><\/div>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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