The construction of the chateau began in the 12th and ended roughly in the 18th century. In the early 16th century it was purchased by Louis XII's treasurer Jean Cottereau, who transformed the chateau-fort into a country house. In the 17th century it was rebuilt for Madame de Maintenon, who purchased the estate in 1675. The chateau's main features are the keep, constructed in the 13th century, and the principal corps de logis, flanked by two round towers, one at the avant-cour and the other at the bridge across the moat. The south and west wings frame a cour d'honneur, beyond which is the moat filled by the waters of the Eure, and, beyond, the parterre and park. The picturesque massing of the varied towers and roofs pleased Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand who found its special character was like that of an abbey or an old town, "with its spires and steeples, grouped at hap-hazard
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