If the tale of Château Colbert were told to you, it would say that this château owes it name to a family of great servants of the State, who made names for themselves in the military, political and ecclesiastical domains: the Colberts, Counts of Maulévrier.
Built in 1679 by Jules-Hardouin Mansart, with the backing of an Anjou architect and on the foundation of a medieval fortress, the elegant granite and tuff silhouette of Château Colbert is adorned by a row of bulls-eye windows, and set in the middle of a courtyard surrounded by majestic railings of the Louis XVI period.
Testimony to man’s folly, it was several times pillaged and fired, but managed to rise again from its ashes.
Its history was marked during the first part of the 19th century (main staircase and caisson built cupola) and the first few years of the 20th century, (salons, prestige bedrooms, marble fireplaces, fountains and the sphinxes in the main courtyard) by some very interesting artistic modifications, without forgetting the creation, in the wake of its own gardens, of the exceptional Oriental Park, the largest in Europe and now the property of the local council.
Today, after successive purchasers, and long periods of somnolence, Château Colbert has become an hotel, has a new lease of life under the impulse of its current owners, Dominique and Jean-Louis Popihn, who are undertaking important rehabilitation projects.
Fired by a common passion, the latter have surrounded themselves with a motivated team, equally in love with “their” château.
Henceforth, the future beckons and the initial ambition has been realised: rekindle the spirit and soul of this magnificent “Grand Siècle” country residence around a great table.
Here, times whiles away as in a theatre.
From the Salon Pompadour to the Salon Colbert,
from the Salon Louis XVI to the Le Stofflet Restaurant,
lunch time and evening, the delicacies have their settings. Magnificent presentations of a sincere, inventive cuisine,
itself in search of all that incarnates beauty:
aroma, imagination, texture, alliances…
Chateau de Colbert 