Château de Bagatelle

Château de Bagatelle is a leisure manor featuring pink and white brick facades with distinctive bull's-eye windows beneath a Mansard roof in Louis XVI style. The building was designed with just a winter salon, summer salon, and dining room, without the typical bedroom spaces found in standard residences.

Abraham van Robais built this leisure house in 1753 as a getaway designed for entertainment rather than family living quarters. The estate later became a cultural gathering place, with its gardens undergoing major redesign in the 19th century.

The château served as a gathering place for artists and musicians during the 19th century, reflecting its role as a center for cultural life in the region. Its function as a venue for performances shaped how people valued the space as more than just a residence.

The site is best reached by car with parking available on the grounds for visitors. The gardens can be explored on foot, though some areas have uneven terrain that requires care while walking.

The property includes a 12-hectare (30-acre) botanical garden that combines an 18th-century French formal garden with an English landscape garden design. These two contrasting garden styles were deliberately merged between 1810 and 1847, creating an interesting blend of European garden traditions on the same grounds.