Châteaugiron Mansion
Le château de Châteaugiron. Source : © Thomas Béline - License Creative Commons - Libre de droit.
Built around 1610, successive owners converted the main buildings several times over the centuries...
Around 1610, the Lord of Boisgeffroi, André Barrin, built a double corps de logis. This structure, which was renovated, converted and redesigned by its various owners, would go on to become the current Command Post of the North West region.
Until its sale in December 1702 by André Barrin's daughter, the mansion remained in the possession of this rich family.
The new owner was René Le Prestre, seigneur of Lézonnet, and the mansion was renamed de Lézonnet in 1731, before becoming the Hôtel de Châteaugiron in 1733, since René Le Prestre had acquired the domain of Châteaugiron among others. He converted the original structure, giving it its current appearance.
In 1797, the mansion was sold when the de Lézonnet family left Rennes. Throughout the first half of the 19th century, the mansion was owned by the Comtesse de Martel and her son-in-law Alexandre Roznyvinen de Piré, who lived in half of the building, with tenants occupying the rest.
In 1860, Princess Napoléone Élisa Bacciochi, Napoleon's niece, bought the hotel and restored it to a single residence in its original splendour. It is her we have to thank for the sumptuous inlaid floors and the chandeliers as well as the staircase and pedimented canopy on the facade. Before her death in 1869, she bequeathed the mansion on the rue de Corbin to the imperial prince.
A military property
Under Napoléon III, the War Department bought the Hôtel de Châteaugiron on the 31st July 1869.
At the fall of the Second Empire, the mansion became the headquarters of the 16th infantry division and later of the 10th Army Corps and the 10th Regional Division.
From 1871 up to the modern day, the mansion has continuously been the headquarters and residence of successive generals, except for the period where the property was occupied by the German authorities (20th June 1940 - 4th August 1944).
After the Liberation, the mansion was the headquarters of the 3rd Regional Division and then of the Defence of Rennes Military Authorities.
In 2000, it became the command post of the North West Region.
This historical monument, administered by the Ministry of Defence, is part of a Defence Culture Protocol, signed on 17th September 2005.
Ministère de la défense
Secrétariat Général pour l'Administration
Direction de la Mémoire, du Patrimoine et des Archives
14 rue Saint-Dominique 00450 Armées
Hôtel de Châteaugiron. Source : Hôtel de commandement de la Région terre nord-ouest
