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In the 16th century, the Terre-Neuve estate lay outside the fortified town of Fontenay-le-Comte, in a district known as the ‘faubourg du Puit-Saint-Martin’. At that time, Fontenay-le-Comte was the capital of the province of Bas Poitou.

A farmstead (métairie) was built on the site. Today, that building stands before you as the main structure.

In 1584, the estate was purchased by Nicolas Rapin (1535–1608), a poet, jurist, and soldier who held the title of Grand Provost of the Constabulary of France — a role that today would fall between the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Defence. He served Kings Henry III and Henry IV.

A Catholic in a time of religious wars, Rapin remained loyal to the crown. In 1593 he defended Henry IV against the Catholic League by co-writing the Satire Ménippée. In October 1590, Henry IV granted him letters of ennoblement; the estate was also ennobled in 1594.

After his death in 1608, a long inheritance dispute ruined the family. In 1701, Lazarist priests purchased Terre-Neuve and remained until the Revolution, fleeing in December 1792.

In 1793, the castle served as a Republican military hospital — which is why it was spared damage during the Vendée Wars.

In 1805, Claude Tendron de Vassé purchased Terre-Neuve. His descendants still live in the castle today. He planted the two great cedars, which are 220 years old in 2025.

In 1848, his grandson Octave de Rochebrune (1824–1900) inherited the estate. A draughtsman, engraver, architect, archaeologist, and collector, he gave the castle its present appearance by restoring it in Renaissance style.

Octave saved many architectural elements from the Château de Coulonges-sur-l’Autize. The Greek Doric porch at the entrance came from there.

Under the pediments, three Latin mottos: ‘Certum Voto Pete Finem’ (Nicolas Rapin: ‘Set wise limits to your desires’), ‘Virtus Labor’ (Octave de Rochebrune: ‘By virtue and labour’), ‘Potius Mori Quam Foedari’ (Duchy of Brittany: ‘Rather death than dishonour’).

The nine statues of the Muses, 18th-century Italian terracotta, are today replaced by stone copies hand-sculpted between 2004 and 2011 by Guérande artist Edmond Fain. The originals are kept at the museum entrance.

Above the door, a carved plaque bearing a welcome poem in Old French by Nicolas Rapin: ‘Winds, breathe upon this season / A good air into this house / That never fever nor plague / Nor the ills that come from excess / Envy, quarrels or lawsuits / May trouble those who dwell here.’ Below it, a Greek inscription: ‘Far from Zeus and his thunderbolt.’

In the 18th century, this room was the chapel of the Lazarist priests. It was Octave de Rochebrune who transformed it into a grand salon.

The large fireplace at the far end comes from the Château de Coulonges. In the early 20th century, the esoteric author Fulcanelli described it as an ‘alchemical fireplace’, claiming its bas-reliefs conceal the secrets of the philosopher’s stone.

Left panel: a rose (symbol of the philosopher’s stone) at the centre of a cross, with a child’s head and an old man’s head. Central panel: two gnomes (sulphur and mercury) flanking a shield bearing the number 4, a symbol of balance. Right panel: a medallion of fruits and wheat representing the newborn body.

Above the fireplace: ‘Nascendo Quotidie Morimur’ (Seneca) — ‘In being born, we die a little each day.’ In alchemy this speaks of transformation: lead must die to give birth to gold.

To the left of the fireplace: a portrait believed to depict the Comte de Saint-Germain, an 18th-century alchemist and adventurer said to be immortal, having discovered the philosopher’s stone.

Thirteen gold-leaf suns adorn the walls — they once formed the interior shutters of Louis XIV’s bedroom at Chambord. They were given to Octave by the Comte de Chambord, Henri d’Artois, his royalist friend.

The stage pediment also came from Chambord (acquired in 1860). It was used for the first performance of Molière’s Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme at Chambord in 1670.

Paintings: a large portrait of Molière and his wife Armande (possibly by the Mignard brothers); Anne of Austria or the Grande Mademoiselle portrayed as the huntress Diana; Hortense Mancini, niece of Cardinal Mazarin.

Furniture: Louis XV armchairs, a Louis XVI/Napoleon III settee and chairs, an Aubusson carpet, a small Chinese lacquer desk, a 19th-century Baccarat crystal chandelier. A tric-trac table (ancestor of backgammon). The expression ‘not worth the candle’ dates from the 16th century, when unlucky gamblers could not afford to pay for the candle lighting their gaming table.

Portrait of Nicolas Rapin, the castle’s first owner. This is a copy — the original is kept in the Fontenay-le-Comte museum. Although Catholic, he wears the dark collar and clothing associated with Protestant dress.

Portrait of Amédée de Guillaume de Rochebrune, Octave’s father. As a child he fled the Revolution to Austria, where he became a child soldier at age 7 in the army of the nobility. He later served under Napoleon before settling in Fontenay-le-Comte.

On the staircase: two paintings of Henry du Fontenioux (Octave’s grandson), shown both as a civilian and as a soldier in World War I. A map drawn by a fellow soldier — the Vendée is misplaced on it. RAT = Territorial Artillery Regiments.

In the salon: two nocturnal maritime scenes (probably by Joseph Vernet, 18th century) and a portrait of the Duc de Lorges, Marshal of France under Louis XIV.

The collections: mortars and wedding keys (14th–18th centuries). One mortar was made by Benvenuto Cellini, the celebrated 16th-century Italian goldsmith. Wedding keys were given by a groom to his bride on their wedding day as a symbol of welcome.

Furniture: a model of the ship ‘Le Mirage’ (a project of Louis XIV’s that was never built — too costly). A 1920 cast-iron radiator. A lion by sculptor Antoine-Louis Barye. A 19th-century Porter Chair — a concierge’s rain-shelter armchair. A folding screen depicting the Chinese Emperor Qianlong (1711–1799).

In Octave de Rochebrune’s time, this was his dining room. The windows bore stained glass and the walls were hung with tapestries, now preserved at the Mémorial de Vendée.

On the left wall: the coats of arms of Octave de Rochebrune (stars and moon) and his wife Alix Grelier du Fougeroux (two flowers and fleur-de-lis). Above the doors: the arms of the Poignand du Fontenioux (lions and porcupines) and Jeanne Lair.

Paintings: a pastel portrait of Marie-Aymée de Suyrot du Chaffault (grandmother of the current owner, a direct descendant of Admiral du Chaffault). Portraits of du Fontenioux children. A portrait of Louis XVI.

The 18th-century roll-top desk was used by Belgian novelist George Simenon, who rented rooms in the castle from 1940 to 1942 and wrote eight novels here, including Le Fils Cardinaud.

The Louis XVI ‘dormeuse’ armchair was used by ladies with elaborate hairstyles (5–10 kg, up to 130 cm tall), prepared 4 to 48 hours in advance, who could not lie down at night.

Musical instruments: a fortepiano by Josephus Zimmermann (ancestor of the modern piano), with a mandolin resting on it. A harp by Pierre Krupp. A barber’s table with a mirror, marble slab, and spring-loaded secret drawer for the razor.

The stained-glass windows on the door and window came from Octave de Rochebrune’s former dining room. Designed by him and made in Nantes (Meuret-Lemoine workshop, 1875), they bear lines from Nicolas Rapin’s poetry collection ‘Les Plaisirs du Gentilhomme champêtre’.

In the display case: the sabre of Alix’s grandfather, a Vendée lieutenant during the Vendée Wars, together with the letter ordering him to take up his post.

Above the pewter-laden bookshelves: two etchings by Octave de Rochebrune — the Château de Chambord and the Cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.

Restored in 2019 by the current owners, the kitchen has recovered the appearance it had in Octave de Rochebrune’s day. The works revealed a bread oven behind the fireplace, dating from the Lazarist priests’ era.

The range is a ‘Châtelaine’ model by the Godin brand (1960s), manufactured at Guise in the Aisne. To the right, a wood-burning stove heats the room.

Around the kitchen: a collection of copperware, brass spoons engraved with family members’ initials, and English porcelain made using the Dutch Delft blue technique.

You are now in the wing built under Nicolas Rapin. Two chests and two doors were made by Octave de Rochebrune using Chambord woodwork — the crowned F and the salamander are emblems of Francis I.

Portrait of Anne Varice de Vallières, a lady of Louis XIV’s court, signed by Hyacinthe Rigaud (the Louvre holds a copy; this is the original). She is depicted as the nymph Pomona, with the legend of Vertumnus and Pomona.

Large portrait of Marshal Aubeterre, French ambassador to Vienna (1752), Madrid (1756), and the Vatican (1763–1769) under Louis XV.

The door is one of three surviving doors from Francis I’s private study at Chambord. Only three exist in the world: at the Louvre, at Chambord, and here at Terre-Neuve.

Furniture: a 16th-century Italian-style table (one of the first extendable dining tables), a Henri II sideboard, an 18th-century Dutch walnut cabinet with fine marquetry and hidden compartments.

Octave’s private oratory: the arches come from the Château de Coulonges. The two caryatids, Octave’s first attempts at sculpture, represent his wife Alix and his daughter Elisabeth.

These rooms reconstruct Octave de Rochebrune’s study and bedroom, which are on the upper floor and not open to the public.

The study resembles a cabinet of curiosities. The family collection on the wall reflects Octave’s passion for butterfly collecting. On display: a photograph of Octave in butterfly-hunting attire, a drawing of the castle before its restoration (showing the Lazarist bell tower and Nicolas Rapin’s gallery), a smoking chair, and chinoiserie objects.

The bed was designed by Octave himself and signed ‘O’ and ‘R’ on either side. It resembles the listed bed at Chambord, which he also designed for his friend Henri d’Artois.

Around the bed: an 18th-century tapestry woven in Brussels, signed ‘B.B’ (Brussels-Brabant). On the wall: a 17th-century tapestry discovered by chance in a friend’s barn, where it had been used to cover potato sacks.

Furniture: an 18th-century bidet with Rouen faience, an 18th-century wedding sideboard, an English officer’s travelling cabinet on casters (merchant-ship officers’ cabins could be fitted with cannons, so all furniture had to be stowable).

In Octave’s time, this room was his artist’s studio. The door surround comes from the chapel of the Château de Coulonges. The approximately 95 stone ceiling coffers (all with different patterns) also come from Coulonges, suspended on metal beams (IPN technique). Four wooden columns were added in 1873 to support the sagging ceiling.

The fireplace with two chimera supports came from the Gobin mansion in Fontenay-le-Comte. Octave added Nicolas Rapin’s coat of arms, his own, and a panel depicting the legend of the fairy Mélusine.

The legend of Mélusine: a cursed fairy, she agreed to marry Raymondin on condition he never see her on a Saturday. Betrayed by his jealous brother, Raymondin broke his vow and glimpsed Mélusine in her bath with a serpent’s tail. Betrayed, she flew from the window and was condemned to remain a winged serpent for ever.

Paintings: a large Rubens-school canvas depicting Herod’s Feast (the beheading of John the Baptist). Two portraits of a director of the Dutch East India Company and his wife.

Furniture: two 17th-century sideboards (one carved with the four cardinal virtues and David holding Goliath’s head). ‘Caqueteuse’ gossip chairs. Cordovan leather chairs. East India Company porcelain. Stained glass by the Lobin workshop in Tours. The parquet floor, showcasing every laying technique of the era, was designed and signed by Octave at the centre of the room.

This final room was created by Octave de Rochebrune. The eight-part ogival vault comes from the Château de Coulonges. Two printing presses stood between the columns for his etchings.

The etching technique: a copper plate is coated with a smoke-blackened varnish. The engraver scratches a drawing into the varnish with a sharp point. The plate is immersed in acid (aqua fortis), which bites into the exposed metal. After inking and wiping, a dampened sheet of paper is placed on the plate under a press — the pressure transfers the ink from the recessed lines onto the paper.

Self-taught from just two manuals, Octave produced over 500 etchings in 40 years, aiming above all to document the historic monuments of his region. His plates are listed as Historic Monuments. He wrote an autobiography entitled ‘Comment je deviens aquafortiste’ (‘How I Became an Etcher’).

The central table is the one on which George Simenon worked in this room — identified from a photograph.

Paul Baudry, a friend converted by Octave to etching, engraved his portrait and signed it ‘Unhappy attempt for my dear friend Octave de Rochebrune’ — because the shoulder is slightly cropped. Despite this, the portrait is a remarkably faithful likeness.

Practical information: The estate covers 10–11 hectares (7 of gardens, 3 around the castle). The castle has been open for guided tours since 1974. It has 11 rooms on the ground floor and about thirty in total.