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the property

The Castle of La Haute-Porte

The Castle of La Haute-Porte is a "caprice" of the 19th century. Its territory was always influenced by its various owners. Monsieur Lefebvre de La Fautrardière, the master of the House at the beginning of the 19th century, transformed durably the park with the implementation of multiple exotic species of trees. He also created a marvelous mass of rhododendron flowers on the estate.

The first wing of the castle appeared in 1840, with Monsieur Leseyeux, a councilor in Mayenne. After him, the estate became the property of the Naintré family. They built the second wing in 1877. Keen on shooting, the Naintré familly also transformed the Domaine de la Haute-Porte by organizing its territory to live their cynegetic passion. With the wedding of Annick Naintré and Antoine de Vaubernier, the future of the estate depends now on their son Jean-Yves. To ensure the profitability of the property, and according to the shooting tradition of his family, he decided to develop an offer of shooting. Nowadays the quality of its high-flying pheasants is recognized in France, and also abroad.


The windmill of Le Petit Molancé

Today, Le Petit Molancé is the place of copious meals, during the daily shooting in the Domaine de la Haute-Porte. But in the past, it was already a place linked to the shooting, and hunting traditions. Indeed, documents show that in the 18th century, a man called Maître Pioger lived there. He was King Louis XV hunting dog’s breeder.


La Basse-Porte

At the end of the 18th century, while the Castle of la Haute-Porte was not built yet, the estate became famous in the history of Chouannerie during French Revolution. Alexandre Le Roy, nicknamed "Risque-Tout", who was miller at la Basse-Porte, organized a counter-revolutionary uprising in Souvigné-sur-Sarthe. With a group of peasants, he refused to enlist in the republican army and decided to fight to defend French monarchy. He was killed in the fight of Valtrot, the 7th of June 1799, when his thin troops were opposed to 500 "blue" republican soldiers.

An ambush of counter-revolutionary soldiers
An ambush of counter-revolutionary soldiers
La Haute-Porte at the beginning of the 20th century
La Haute-Porte at the beginning of the 20th century
La Haute-Porte on old postcard
La Haute-Porte on old postcard
French King Louis XV hunting
French King Louis XV hunting