Château de Méréville

Château de Méréville
Location within France
General information
Architectural styleRenaissance
ClassificationMonument historique
Town or cityMéréville, Essonne
CountryFrance
Coordinates48°19′11″N 2°5′27″E / 48.31972°N 2.09083°E / 48.31972; 2.09083
Construction started1768
Completed1794
ClientJean-Joseph de Laborde
Design and construction
Architect(s)Jean-Benoît-Vincent Barré

The Château de Méréville is a chateau in Méréville in the valley of the Juine, France. It is the rival of the Désert de Retz as two of the most extensive Landscape Gardens provided with follies and picturesque features — parcs à fabriques — made in the late eighteenth century. Both are early examples of the romantic French Landscape Gardenjardin a l'anglaise — an interpretation of the English garden style that was replacing the Garden à la française. the Château de Méréville and garden park survive, partially dismantled.

After being owned by a Japanese pension fund who planned to turn it into a golf resort, in 2000 the chateau was bought by the regional government. As of 2008, plans to restore it had made little progress.