The historical Chantilly is alive again due to fiive small houses in the roof, located 800 m from the
castle. By the past, time of the Prince de Conde, these
small buildings scroll saw high society. "It was the era of gardens so-called
Anglo-Chinese and return to nature. Prince de Conde has built these
houses, rustic on the outside with a refinement in the extreme: it is
this contrast which created the surprise, "said the
Director General of the Chantilly area. Unfortunately, lack of
resources, houses are now empty, and there is no trace of luxurious
curtains rose, grass on the floor or plants
over the interior walls. "We chose
the outside because otherwise, the houses have simply disappeared,"
said the chief architect of historic monuments. But
this hamlet was very famous and served as a model for including that of
Marie-Antoinette at Versailles. The restoration work lasted almost a
year. It took a waiver request for reconstruct the buildings as they
were built in 1775. For the Duke of Aumale, the last occupant of the
field, wanting "to keep France on Chantilly area in its integrity" had
promised at the Institut de France, which he had left, there would be
no major changes. Any conservation will be "outside the spirit of
faction, like shaking too abrupt, and maintaining its independence amid
fluctuations policies", had he demanded. But the village had suffered
damage after the Revolution, then profound changes over time. Eager to
regain the eighteenth aspect, the restorers have had to disregard the
principle of "no change". And they got rid of moldings, tile or plaster
nineteenth most recent. In the archives of the castle, the
architect has found watercolors faithful to the original buildings. In
addition, the album of Count North, the Prince de Conde offered in 1784
to the future Czar Paul I, contains engravings very specific: they
literally served as a guide for the work. The roofs have knowingly been redone erratically,
as was the case at the time. The nails were forged, false chimneys
added. The colors timbered are ocher, as indicated on the sketch. The
whole gives this charming rustic, both popular today. The Chantilly area covers 7 800 hectares, and last
year received almost 400 000 visitors. Besides the castle, stables, a
unique library, a gallery of ancient paintings, a French garden of Le
Nôtre and a huge park with ponds and canals are open to
visitors. Since 2005, major operations were launched. Those of the
Great Singers are completed, but part of the
park is still under construction, including the parterre garden north
of Le Nôtre. The big teams, which are home to the Living
Museum of the Horse will be partially rebuilt from 2009. The field of
Chantilly considering, moreover, to restore the painting gallery of the
Museum of Condé. But it faces a financial question and
foremost, a practical problem: according to the wishes of the Duke of
Aumale, collections should not be moved from Condé Museum,
which makes the work very difficult.