The Château d'Argeronne can host seminars, study days, conferences, company evenings and weddings, from a meeting of a few people in a vaulted room to a dinner for 400 guests in its glass orangery. The estate lies at La Haye-Malherbe, in the Eure department of Normandy, and is run by the family that bought it in 2005.
Seminars and company events
The estate sells professional events: seminars, management committees, general meetings, product launches, study days and gala evenings. The Orangerie is the plenary room. It is listed for up to 300 people in a conference layout and up to 400 for a dinner or a cocktail, which lets a group hold its working session and its evening in the same building.
Smaller sessions move into the château. On the ground floor, a run of connecting reception rooms covers about 250 m² and opens directly onto the large terrace. On the garden level, vaulted rooms of about 150 m² seat up to 80 people for a meal, and the large vaulted room takes up to 90 people set up for a conference. These rooms can be split into several work or meeting spaces for breakout groups. The park around the château and the orangery is used for outdoor cocktails, activities and team building.
Weddings and receptions
The estate also hosts weddings, birthdays, christenings and family gatherings. The usual pattern is a drinks reception at the château, then dinner in the Orangerie, which seats up to 400 guests. In good weather, buffets are set in front of the château, on either side of the double staircase or on the lawns, with a view toward the forest. In bad weather the château rooms take the cocktail indoors. For a smaller party, the large vaulted room with its fireplace seats up to 70 guests for a meal.
Rooms and capacities
The Orangerie is a glass and steel structure of more than 400 m², added to the estate about fifteen years ago, with a view of the château and the park. The château offers the ground-floor reception rooms (about 250 m²), the vaulted rooms of the garden level (about 150 m²) and the large vaulted room. The site gives 70 seated for a meal in the large vaulted room on its wedding page and 80 on its seminar page, so confirm the figure for your layout.
Accommodation
Accommodation on site is limited. Le Pommier Doux, the guest house of the estate, has three bedrooms: Granny and Bleue on the first floor, overlooking the garden, and Chine on the ground floor, facing the park and the château. Each has a double bed and its own shower room, and breakfast is served in the guest house lounge. A larger group will need hotels nearby.
Catering
The official site does not say whether catering is in-house or brought in by a caterer. Ask the owners which caterers can work in the Orangerie and the château before you plan menus.
History and setting
The château was built between 1650 and 1655, probably on the foundations of an older feudal castle. It is a Louis XIII design in brick and stone: a main building with pavilions, two wings, a central stone section with a triangular pediment and a perron facing the courtyard. The building is about 60 m long, has 35 rooms and a slate roof, and its vaulted halls keep their original structure. The Berrier family, then the Guenet family, owned it in the 17th and 18th centuries. The guest house was built in the late 19th century to plans of a Swedish hunting pavilion.
Getting there
The estate is at La Haye-Malherbe, postcode 27400, in the Eure. The owners can give directions and the best access from Paris or Rouen when you contact them.
