Château de Remaisnil

The Château de Remaisnil is an 18th-century château situated on the edge of the French village of Remaisnil, in the Somme department of Picardy. The house was built in 1760 on the site of a former Medieval castle. For centuries, the house and surrounding lands remained in the same noble family. In 1900, it came into the possession of one of the designers of the Paris Métro. Evidence of his ownership can be seen by the tiles used in the cellars - the same tiles as were used at Parisian underground railway stations. During the First World War, the château was used by the British Army as an operations centre and Remaisnil lies close to many of the Somme battlefields. Following the German invasion of France in 1940 during the Second World War, the house was occupied by German officers. In the late 1970s, the château was bought by Laura Ashley and her husband, Bernard, who conducted extensive renovation work on the fabric of the building and re-designed the interiors. In 1987, the château was purchased by Manhattanites Adrian and Susan Doull, who turned it into a hotel and conference centre. It was subsequently re-sold as a hotel. Although the traditional estate of the house has been reduced in size, today the château retains 35 acres of parkland. The grounds contain a walled garden, tennis court and swimming pool, and an English garden designed by Laura Ashley. The house itself has five grand reception rooms, some of which retain decorative features from the reign of Louis XV. Less