Château de Villemesle

Villemesle takes its name from two Latin words: villa, house and merula, blackbird. This evokes the idea of a château surrounded by thick woods populated by birds. The oldest known lord is Hugues de Villemesle who in April 1222 made a deal with Héloïse, the Abbess of Saint-Avit de Châteaudun (close to Chartres), on the freedom to cut grass in the Loir in order to clear the land around the mills he owned there. The château was destroyed during the Hundred Years War. The château we see today was rebuilt under René des Loges using plans by Le Nôtre who designed the great driveway from Villemesle to Boisgasson.