Château de Chenailles, 16th century castle in Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel, France.

The Château de Chenailles is a private castle in Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel, within the Bois des Comtesses near the D960 road. Its grey stone facade has rows of rectangular windows with light frames and divided panes, a taller central pavilion with a hipped roof, and a steep dark slate roof with dormer windows and tall brick chimneys. A dark metal fence on a low stone wall runs in front, with a stone gate pillar topped by a sculpted animal figure.

Geoffroy Vallée I bought the métairie of Chenailles from several owners in the 16th century and took the title of seigneur de Chenailles; he died in 1537. His son Geoffroy II was condemned for heresy and hanged on the Place de Grève in Paris in 1574. Marie Vallée and her husband Robert Miron, controller general of finances, then began building the château; it passed to Claude Vallée in 1615 and to François Vallée in 1624.

The name Chenailles comes from the seigneurie held by the Vallée family, who took the title of seigneur de Chenailles in the 16th century. The château was built after Marie Vallée and her husband Robert Miron, controller general of finances, acquired the estate; Marie died in 1615. A painted cycle of the story of Armide, attributed to Jean Mosnier, decorated an interior room.

The château is private and not open to visitors, so it can only be seen from outside; the grounds lie in the Bois des Comtesses near the D960 road, about 117 m above sea level. Admire the grey stone facade, the steep slate roof with white-framed dormer windows and the gate pillar topped by a sculpted animal figure from the public side of the fence.

The Toledo Museum of Art in Ohio holds a reconstructed room from Chenailles. Its paintings, a cycle on the story of Armide, are attributed to Jean Mosnier, and the decor, close to that of Cheverny, recalls the art of Jean Cotelle.