Château de Courson

Domaine de Courson hosts company dinners, product launches, team-building days, study days and weddings, with up to 200 guests seated in the stables and more under marquees in the park. The château stands in Courson-Monteloup, in the Essonne, 35 km south-west of Paris. It is a listed historical monument, and its 40-hectare park carries the Jardin Remarquable label from the Ministry of Culture.

Seminars and company events

The estate has handled large gatherings for more than 30 years, since it began hosting the Journées des Plantes de Courson, a garden fair that drew thousands of visitors. That experience shows in the set-up: private parking, lighting inside and out, and a member of the estate's team on site throughout an event. Past company events include a convention dinner for a large listed group, product launches, a test-drive day for a car dealership, two large picnics for a car brand, a business breakfast in the painting gallery and a team-building day on the pond. The 17th-century gallery can also be visited privately by a group.

Weddings and receptions

Weddings and private receptions use several settings across the park. Ceremonies, religious or secular, and cocktails can be held outdoors by the pond, which is lined with cypresses more than a century old, or in the Delarue greenhouses of 1860. Dinners take place in the stables, in a marquee set in the middle of the park, or in a clear tent attached to the château façade. Options include a live band at the aperitif, an orchestra in the stables, a nightclub set-up, a laser show on the château, a botanical tour of the park and a treasure hunt for children.

Rooms and capacities

The stables of the Duc de Padoue offer 335 m² of adaptable space. The central building seats up to 200 guests for dinner and the right wing takes 120. The original stalls, mangers and brick and paved floors have been kept. A floor plan with surfaces is available from the estate. Standing and conference capacities are not published, so ask the team for a layout that fits your programme.

Accommodation

Two gîtes attached to the right wing of the château sleep up to four and six people. The Gîte des Camélias has a double bedroom and a sofa bed; the Gîte des Hortensias has a bedroom with a double and a single bed, plus two sofa beds. Both have Wi-Fi and private parking. They suit the couple or a few organisers, and other guests stay in hotels nearby.

Catering

The estate does not state on its site whether catering is in-house. Ask the team which caterers work in the stables.

History and setting

The estate goes back to the 16th century and was enlarged by successive owners. In 1820 the landscape designer Berthault turned the formal French garden into a landscape park and linked the château to its farmyard. His assistant Damesme gave the stables the look of a large Italian villa, with paired brick-framed openings set out like a cloister, ochre render and a millstone base.

Getting there

By road, the estate is reached from the A10 towards Nantes and Bordeaux, leaving at the Dourdan exit. The nearest station is Breuillet-Village on RER C, seven minutes away by car, with a taxi service listed by the estate. Orsay on RER B is 30 minutes away.