Ricquebourg is a small village in the Oise, 25 minutes north Compiègne , about one hour’s driving from Paris ( 5 minutes away from the A1 motorway exit Mondidier / Compiegne nord), and also about one hour away from Amiens.
Riquebourg castle dating back to 1715 is a unique building largely inspired from The GrandTrianon in Versailles, built on stilts in the middle of ponds. As soon as the 18th century, it was called ” The castle with frogs”
The greenhouses of the castle show the time of wealthiness and splendors of the late 19th century, when castle owners’gardeners would rival and compete to present experts committees their most beautiful exotic plants.
Their architecture goes back to the industrial revolution when steel and wrought iron enabled splendid constructions, both useful and decorative.
The greenhouses are against a large wall and cover about 200 square meters divided into 3 parts, a central part with 2 side-parts, under an overall height of over 4.4m. A footbridge also goes along the whole building. Inside the greenhouses you can still see large racks for pots and shelves used to display the plants.
Under the greenhouses, in the cellars, there used to be a boiler room to heat the place and the vegetable patch over 5 acres thanks to a network of cast-iron pipes buried underneath. Archives tell us that during the 19th century, six gardeners worked there full time.
A committee report after a visit of the gardens in 1906 mentions Mr Buron, the head-gardener’s work, the magnificent artichokes , the grapewines and the pineapples in the greenhouses.
RICQUEBOURG castle is part of the 270 monuments in danger, selected by the Bern government mission in 2018.
It is a TRIANON built on stilts, a little part of Versailles, near COMPIEGNE and CHANTILLY , which reflects its beauty in its waters.
It was built in 1715 by an assistant horse-shoemaker who became wealthy and was given a peerage for saving Louvois’s favourite horse and who raised horses for the royal artillery whose supply he enjoyed the exclusive rights.
The castle then belonged to the DE GOUY d’ARSY family, who died or run away during the revolution. It was later sold to National Assets.
The greenhouses, An American heritage :
The estate was The property was acquired and transformed at the end of the 19th century by an American family, the RIGDWAY family, owner from 1876 to 1915, who gave it its present characteristics by transforming the French garden into an English-style landscaped garden, by enlarging the castle, building studs, an Eiffel-style bridge, and large greenhouses with a metallic structure, shaping the landscape of the park inscribed on the MERIMEEE base.
John Jacob RIDGWAY was born on 11th March 1807 in Philadelphia in PENSYLVANIA and died on 27 October 1885 in PARIS. He is buried in the PASSY cemetery. Occupation «Owner in PARIS». Son of Jacob Ridgway born April 18th, 1768 in Little Egg Harbor, Ocean County, New Jersey, who was said to be “the richest capitalist in Philadelphia, and probably overtaken by none other than John Jacob Astor, in the United States”. (He died in his residence on Chesnut Street, opposite Independence Hall, on November 1st ). Mr. Ridgway had left three children, one son and two daughters, to inherit his immense wealth, estimated in some newspapers to six, and in all to three or four million» JJ RIDGWAY was married to Elisabeth VILLING who died in 1904.
After the father’s death in 1885 it was their son Charles RIDGWAY,who was born in 1852 and who died in Paris in 1913, who took over at RICQUEBOURG until 1909. Two generations have thus succeeded each other in RICQUEBOURG over more than thirty years and have transformed the property thanks to their fortune and their good taste.
It is a heritage of memory: - a testimony to the American heritage/influence in France at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. - and also a castle of the reconstruction period in a region devastated by wars, in particular by the conflict of the First World War during which so many castles and other buildings of heritage were definitively lost.
This project will make it possible to present the heritage of the park of the estate, to open it to the public during visits, or events. -Greenhouse approaches were cleared to allow access. -Greenhouses must now be rid of invasive, parasitic vegetation (ivy), pruning nearby trees. This vegetation has indeed invaded all of the place but has also protected it from corrosion the main structure, still solid. - This will allow, if we meet the objectives, or in the context of another project, to restore the masonry in a second stage, then to intervene on the corroded metal parts. - Then we can consider covering them again and giving them a new life: setting up a young nursery gardener, a cactus collection, make it a place to welcome the public?
Stage 1: €4,000, which will allow us to finance the clearing, pruning, and cleaning of greenhouses.
Stage 2: 10,000 € which will allow us to start work on brick masonry, to open to the visit. Stage 3: €20,000 that will allow us to start work on the metal parts (brushing, passivation, and protection) We can then consider covering it again, probably with a light structure .
The owners since 1954 have been the CAMBIE family. Today the family SCI CAMBIE DELEDALLE wishes to open the places to the public, to share this common heritage.
We are an association law 1901 that has been created since 1997 and whose purpose is the protection, enhancement and animation of the natural and architectural heritage of the estate.
We are committed to supporting the family/ SCI owner in order to safeguard and enhance the places, to open them to the public. The association, transparent and open to all , links private property with the collective interest.
Thus in 2017 the property hosted a country festival with hiking-history, role-plays on the history of the property, a lyrical singer, hunting horns, exhibitions of artistic works inside the castle etc. more than 1,000 people have come to enjoy the events.
The Heritage Days in September 2019 allowed more than 1,150 visitors to discover the site.
Come on, come on!
On 20 and 21 July 2019 we will have the pleasure to propose «RICQUEBOURG , an adventure on the water; let yourself immerse yourself in the magic of the Piano du Lac and in the history of the castle on stilts». A recital of classical music on a barge immersed at the foot of the castle, and guided tours.
You can support this project:
- by making a donation online by credit card on this page after registration on the Dartagnans site
- by making a bank transfer after registration on the Dartagnans website
- by sending a cheque, on the back of which you will include your e-mail address, addressed to the following order: "Friends of the Domaine de Ricquebourg", sent to the following address:
Dartagnans
Campagne Château de Ricquebourg
15 rue de Milan
75009 PARIS
With the community of communes of the PAYS des Sources , the association FLCR de RICQUEBOURG , the Heritage Foundation , Madame Bureau Bonnard our deputy and Vice-President of the French House of Representatives, and all those who trust us and make us known .
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The family and members of the association thank you for helping them to contribute to the safeguarding of this heritage, thank you for allowing us to animate it and to share it with you by opening it to the public. Contact us at [email protected] To continue to follow us and contact us: Follow us now on our Facebook page chateaudericquebourg ( Make sure it is Riquebourg in the OISE )
Et par email: [email protected]@laposte.net
the property From RIGDWAY times to today: After the RIVIE era and the RIGDWAY era, the property goes through more turbulent days . During the Great War the castle and the service quarters suffered: located on the front, it was under German command with the general VON KLUCK, General-in-Chief of the North German Army who stayed there to hunt deer instead of taking PARIS on its roll, then under French command it was an Anglo-American hospital, the first Algerian rifleman was decorated with the Legion d’honneur. Looted and partly burned by the Germans during the battle of MATZ in November 1918 the castle was rehabilitated in 1925, but the greenhouses remained abandoned.
Before the Second World War , the Baron FOUQUIER was among his owners, and gave gourmet meals whose menus were published in LE FIGARO. The family LESQUENDIEU, perfumers in PARIS, settled there too. In the nearby factory the famous "Queen of Creams", a huge success of the time that was sold up to New YORK and TOKYO, was developed. Note that the grandson of Monsieur LESQUANDIEU has taken up the torch and that his creations are once again among the greatest perfumes.
During the Second World War it was an American rest camp, then the owners followed each other more and more quickly ... Since 1954 with the CAMBIE family, the place has moved back to its origins: it has been again a breeding place , but of Charolais this time.
