Seminars and company events
Château de Villebon, in the village of Villebon in Eure-et-Loir, opens several of its historic rooms for private hire: the Renaissance courtyard, the chapel, the old kitchen, the guard room and the Galerie des Châteaux. The family that owns and lives in the castle offers these spaces for prestige events and private gatherings, and quotes each request individually. The official site gives no seated or standing capacity, so the size of a group is agreed directly with the owners.
For companies, the site points to two uses. The first is the prestige event: a reception or a gathering inside a medieval fortress that is still a family home. The second is professional production work. Brands, agencies and photographers can book the castle for films and photo shoots, advertising and fashion included, and the preserved setting also suits historical reconstructions.
Weddings and receptions
The rooms are offered for family celebrations and gatherings of friends. The sixteenth-century chapel can be booked for ceremonies such as baptisms. The official site does not describe a wedding package, catering or accommodation, so hosts should ask the owners what a celebration at Villebon can include.
Rooms and capacities
The Renaissance courtyard is half in shade and half in sun, which makes it a usable open-air space in warm weather. Inside the walls, the old kitchen and the guard room keep their medieval volumes, and the Galerie des Châteaux is one of two galleries shown on the guided tour, next to the gallery of curiosities. The chapel dates from the sixteenth century. No capacity is published for any of these spaces.
History and setting
Villebon is a square military castle built at the end of the fourteenth century, during the Hundred Years' War, on a former border between French and English territory. Six crenellated towers flank it, deep moats still filled with water surround it, and its drawbridge is still operated every day.
Jean d'Estouteville, back from the Italian wars, brought Renaissance taste to the fortress: mullioned windows, a reworked inner courtyard and the chapel. In the seventeenth century Sully, minister to Henri IV, laid out the park around ponds, canals and the dovecote, with wooded French-style perspectives leading to a statue of Diana. Sully died at Villebon in 1641. A herd of fallow deer has lived in the park since the eighteenth century, and the orangery and stables were added in the nineteenth.
Over six centuries the castle has received many heads of state, from Charles VI, Louis XI, François I and Henri IV to Charles de Gaulle and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing. It has been sold only twice and has belonged to four families; the La Raudière family opened it to visitors in 1994. Marcel Proust, from nearby Illiers-Combray, first titled part of his manuscript after Villebon before it became Guermantes. The castle and chapel have been listed historic monuments since 1927, and the dovecote has been registered since 1981.
Getting there
The castle stands between the Beauce and the Perche, in the Centre-Val de Loire region. Visitors enter through the gate on the village's central square, and the postal address is 7 Grande Rue, 28190 Villebon. Guided visits run daily from mid-April to late October, which is worth keeping in mind when planning an event in season.
