Photo : M.Minderhoud / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Château d'Haroué
The Château d'Haroué, also called the Château de Craon or des Beauvau-Craon, is an 18th-century château south of Nancy, in the Meurthe-et-Moselle. The architect Germain Boffrand built it between 1720 and 1729 for Marc de Beauvau-Craon, Constable of Lorraine and later Viceroy of Tuscany.
Boffrand had to incorporate the four towers and moats of the medieval castle, which had belonged to François de Bassompierre. The décor is largely the work of Jean Lamour for the ironwork (gates, balconies, staircase banister), Pillement for a painted tower and Barthélemy Guibal for the statuary.
The French formal garden was designed by Emilio Terry and the landscape architects Achille and Henri Duchêne. The furniture includes Restoration-period pieces from Zoé Talon, Countess du Cayla, favourite of Louis XVIII. The château, park and Madon valley have been a protected site since 1990. Descendants of the family still live there.
