Vaux Le Vicomte

Back when Louis XIV was new to being a king, his finance minister, Nicolas Fouquet, decided to build 'a small testimony to the heights' he had attained as an individual--a new house. To build the house he engaged an architect (Louis LeVau), a gardener (Andre LeNotre), and an interior designer (Charles LeBrun) who would combine to influence all the great homes in France and Europe. The home this team created is called Vaux LeVicomte and is located approximately 15 minutes from our home in Avon.

This home was innovative for the time. As you approach the home and then walk around back, an incredible garden opens out before you. This was the first Formal French Garden and helped to set the standard for most formal gardens in France and through most of Europe. What is also striking about this home is the way the house and the garden work together to make a beautiful scene.

Here's some pictures of the house and gardens.

 Vaux Le Vicomte, the inspiration for Versailles

The view from the front lane

The main house

 The first French Formal Garden

Overlooking one of the pools in the garden

A beautiful outside deserves a beautiful inside and the architect and interior decorator combined to produce a wonder. The home is built of brick and stone with wood structure to support the ceiling. This was a home designed for entertaining and each room is filled with paintings, sculpture, and other beautiful objects. Some say that this is also the first home to have a formal room dedicated only to eating. Apparently it was more typical to eat where ever you and your guests found yourself. This home changed that by having a large room used just for eating. The first dining room.

 A large home that needed to be filled
Cupid and Athena  Cupid and Athena again

 King Louis the 14th

 An impressive figure by any name
The master bedroom Ornate beauty
The bedroom of the lady of the house Her chest of drawers
Hand made tapestry bed Chinese urns and marble tables
Furnishings in a sitting room
The first formal dining room? The kitchen used to feed the master and his guests

But all is not perfect in the story of this home. To introduce his new home to the royalty of France, Fouqet threw a large house warming party and invited Louis XIV and the court. The King had already decided that he did not like Fouqet (the King thought he was a threat) and this show of incredible wealth was the last straw. The king accussed him of stealing the money from the Treasury and had him imprisoned--where he eventually died.

The king then hired the three people responsible for the design of the house and gardens and had them improve his palace at Versailles. They, in turn, made it the greatest palace in Europe.

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