Marie Antoinette Estate and Queen’s Hamlet, Versailles – A Visitor’s Guide

Marie Antoinette Estate and Queen's Hamlet at Versailles

Marie Antoinette is the only queen who imposed her personal tastes on Versailles and the Trianon Estate, which her husband Louis XVI gave to her in 1774.  She escaped the rigours of court etiquette in her private Petite Trianon and its surrounding gardens, theatre and in her own fairytale hamlet, where no one could enter without her personal invitation. 

Wishing for a simpler life away from the pomp and political turmoil of the times she escaped to the Trianon Estate, which while only a thirty minute or so walk away from the palace, was worlds away in terms of appearance and ambiance. This Estate is truly my favourite area of Versailles and is always much less populated by the massive crowds that visit Chateau Versailles. Sometimes you have the paths around the gardens almost to yourself, and it doesn't take much imagination to understand why the young queen loved her Estate so much. 

What is now called the 'Marie Antoinette Estate' is part of the greater 'Grand Versailles' project which aims at showing the contrasts between architectural and decorating styles and male and female inspiration. The Marie Antoinette Estate has remained a unified area, private and well preserved due to Napoleon who took over the majority of the layout and re-established it as a separate enclosure. 

The estate comprises of the Grand Trianon, Petite Trianon, French Garden, French Pavilion, Queen's Theatre, the area called The Rock, Belvedere (or Music Room), Grotto, Orangery, English Garden, Temple of Love, Refreshments Diary, Marlborough Tower, Guard's House, Dovecot, Billiard Room, Queen's House, Warming Room, Boudoir ("the little house of the Queen"), Mill, Farm and Porte Saint Antoine (a gateway to Estate).

Some of the buildings in this estate were built by Louis VX, who was encouraged by Madame de Pompadour to building a leisure area focussed on zoology and botany, and others were commissioned by Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. The area was created for outside enjoyment and a more relaxed style of living with light lunches served in the French Pavilion, and food prepared from the vegetable garden and products from the Menagerie were eaten in the Cool Pavilion. 

Queen Marie Antoinette had part of the existing garden transformed into the English Garden and then further commissioned architect Richard Mique to build her a theatre, cottages, barn, working dairy, dovecote and a Rustic Garden.

The Queen's Theatre

This theatre is said to be "one of the most beautiful and historic buildings in Europe" - chateauversailles.fr and was inspired by the auditorium of Chateau de Choisy (which was built for Madame de Pompadour). The queen sometimes acted in performances held at her theatre and particularly liked comedy performances.  She had taken comedy classes when she still lived in Vienna with her family as a way of learning French.  I haven't yet toured the theatre, with time constraints on each of my visits, but it's on the list. 

The English Garden

The design brief to Richard Mique was to create a more picturesque garden, so part of the botanical garden of Louis XV was sacrificed to create the undulating streams, follies, lawns and winding paths. Perched on an artificial island the Belvedere, or Music Room is stunning, and the grotto which overhands a small lake gives the English Garden true beauty.  This is a photographer's paradise in my opinion and I always have to drag myself away. 

The Follies of the Rustic Garden

Built between 1777 and 1787 the follies were built to complement the surrounding landscape with its size and vegetation type and while they are called "miniature constructions" - chateauversailles.fr I think they are not really so miniature and are an expression of the creative queen who loved to spend time amongst nature.

The vegetation or greenery originally around the Belvedere was a curtain of poplar trees and around the Temple of Love there were lots of weeping willows but in the great storm of 1999 many ancient and large trees were lost. Read how Chateau Versailles' head gardener Alain Baraton tells of his great sadness at the destruction this wild storm caused on the garden in our post The Gardener of Versailles: Book Review

Designed specifically for each site they are diverse in their style and are classified as classical follies inspired by antiquity - The Temple of Love, The Belvedere, The Porte Saint Antoine; natural follies - The Rock, The Grotto, Rip Rap; Exotic Follies - "Chinese" Ring Game (not visible anymore) and rustic follies - The Villagers' houses from the Queen's Hamlet. 

So while considered follies, the villagers' houses also form part of the charming Queen's hamlet.

The Queen's Hamlet

Wanting to provide a country lifestyle and amusement for her children, Queen Marie Antoinette had twelve cottages built around the Grand Lac. Nearby was the farm where she receive her fresh milk. She used to serve milk drinks in Paris porcelain in the Refreshments Dairy to her closest friends, who when invited to stay, could enjoy the whole hamlet as they wished.

There was a Barn that was used as a ballroom and a Boudoir close to her house. 

The Mill with waterwheel, Guard's Room, Dovecote and Warming Room (kitchen), Boudoir, Queen's House and Refreshment Dairy have all been restored and you can walk around them and see the small enclosed gardens and flowering beds with your entry ticket to the Estate. Walking to the hamlet along the winding gravel paths will slowly take you back in time until all of a sudden the quaint buildings and flower beds fill your vision across the Grand Lac. 

This hamlet is well worth a visit and if you have time, sit like I did, imagining a carefree Marie, casually dressed in peasant's clothing ambling about the grounds with her children taking delight in teaching them about the natural world.  

Related Posts

• Chateau de Versailles - A Brief History and What to See - planning a trip to Versailles? You must read this. 
• The Gardener of Versailles: Book Review - Alain Baraton has lived in, loved, and worked in the garden of Versailles for decades, this is his story
• Nina's Marie Antoinette Tea Salon - the luxury Parisian tea salon that serves the original tea of Marie Antoinette