Château de Serrant

The Orangerie of the Château de Serrant takes seminars for 15 to 50 people, general meetings of up to 90 in theatre layout, and weddings and receptions for up to 190 seated or 220 standing. It stands a few metres from the château, a furnished family home at Saint-Georges-sur-Loire, in Maine-et-Loire, west of Angers.

Seminars and company events

For seminars and working meetings of 15 to 50, the main hall can be divided into two areas with a mobile partition. Seminar tables, chairs, a screen, a projector, Wi-Fi and a paperboard are provided. A general meeting for up to 90 in theatre layout can be followed by a cocktail in the hall or the garden. Lunch is served on site by a caterer, and for company evenings organisers choose their own providers. Visits of the château can be added, and a murder party played inside the château offers team building for groups of 13 to 20.

Weddings and receptions

Weddings are the Orangerie's other main use, together with birthdays. The walled garden, about 3,500 square metres, has a lawn for the cocktail and a raised, shaded terrace that can host a secular ceremony. Couples can take their photographs in the landscaped park. Rental runs over four consecutive days, which leaves time to set up the hall and clear it afterwards.

Rooms and capacities

The main hall measures 210 square metres and keeps its original wooden ceiling, exposed stone walls and terracotta floor. It seats up to 190 at round tables, or 220 standing. Round tables and white folding chairs are included. Two 32 square metre folding marquees and eight standing tables can be added for the cocktail. A warming kitchen for caterers with its own access, a cloakroom and toilets, including one accessible toilet, complete the building.

Accommodation

An optional longère on the estate offers a dormitory with 15 beds and a shower room, and a gîte with two double rooms and a bathroom, 19 beds in all.

Catering

Catering is provided by caterers, who work from the warming kitchen and serve lunches, dinners and cocktails.

History and setting

The Brie family obtained royal leave to fortify Serrant in 1481, and the moats still trace that medieval stronghold. Péan de Brie began rebuilding in the Renaissance style in 1539 with the Angevin architect Jean Delespine, until money ran out. Guillaume de Bautru bought the estate in 1636 and completed the central building and south tower to the original plan, and his son added wings, pavilions, a monumental gate and the chapel. In 1749 the Walsh family, Irish shipowners settled in Nantes, bought Serrant and laid out the landscaped park. The château later passed to the La Trémoïlle family and now belongs to the Prince and Princess de Merode, who live there all year. Its library holds about 12,000 volumes, and the grand salon keeps a celebrated ebony cabinet. The Orangerie dates from the 17th century and was restored in 2016.

Getting there

The address is Château de Serrant, 49170 Saint-Georges-sur-Loire. Angers lies to the east and is the nearest city with a main-line station.