Château de la Roche-Mailly

Château de la Roche-Mailly is located in La Roche de Vaux, Requeil, France; the present building dates to the 19th century and was created for members of the French nobility.

In the Middle Ages the estate was known as La Roche-de-Vaux and belonged to the de La Chevrière family. That line continued to hold the seigneurie until the generation of Marguerite de La Chevrière. In 1622 Marguerite married Louis de Champlais, lord of Courcelles, and she later married Jean Baptiste Louis de Beaumanoir, baron de Lavardin.

In 1668 Marguerite de La Chevrière sold La Roche-de-Vaux to François de La Rivière, écuyer and lord of La Groirie, who also served as a counsellor at the parliament of Metz. François de La Rivière’s daughter, Louise Madeleine Josephe Marie de La Rivière, married Joseph de Mailly, marquis d’Haucourt, in 1701. That marriage brought the estate into the House of Mailly.

Between 1836 and 1842 the château was entirely rebuilt under the direction of Pierre-Félix Delarue, an architect from Le Mans, for Adrien, Count de Mailly Nesle. At that time the property became known as Château de la Roche-Mailly. The façades and roofs of the building were officially inscribed as protected historic elements on 29 October 1976, and the château is recorded as partly listed. The pleasure garden, which includes an orchard and formal walks dating to 1787 and to 1840, is entered in the national inventory of cultural heritage.