Translation of an article published in Le Perche, on 22nd September, 2010
Marie and Roger Huss, the new owners of the château de la Mouchère, opened the house and grounds during the weekend of the Journées du patrimoine. The two teachers from England welcomed a large number of visitors to their home.
As an historian, Marie Huss has looked into the history of the site. As she explains, “the site has been occupied since the Middle Ages and was further developed when the château was built. La Mouchère was probably originally an outpost of the nearby Priory of Sainte-Gauberge, as the name Mouchère, traceable back to the word ‘monastère’, suggests. After the Revolution, the neighbouring manor house of the same name resumed its purely agricultural role, while the new owners built the château and laid out grounds in the English style, stocking the park with a wide variety of trees. The château’s outhouses also reflect a continuing agricultural activity.”
The two owners, who moved in only two years ago, have restored the house and are now working on the upkeep of the kitchen garden and the grounds. They hope to reinstate the mill-course built by the Monduit family in the 1870s. Monduit, a metal-founder, worked with the sculptor Bartholdi, and made the cockerel weathervane on top of the dovecot at La Mouchère. His granddaughter had a replica of it made for the church at Saint-Cyr-la-Rosière.
The site, with its underground passage leading away from the château, retains a certain mystery. The new owners have fallen in love with La Mouchère and its superb views over the countryside of Saint-Cyr, and are continuing the work of previous owners, while adding their personal touch and many plans for the future.