Initiated in 1633 by Jacques, Marquess of Nonant, for his wife Marie Dauvet Desmaret on the remains of a stronghold of which the dungeon surrounded by moats is now covered by box trees, Beaumesnil was completed in 1640

   What makes Beaumesnil so unique in France is its architecture. With the Medicis fountain and the Sully mansion in Paris, it is a very rare example of Louis XIII baroque style. This "free" architecture boasts comedia dell'Arte masks, monumental chimneys, and all kind of optical effects and ornaments.

   Successively the property of familes such as the Montmorency-Laval, the Bethune-Charost, the Maistre, the Grand Duke Dimitri of Russia, it was finally purchased by Jean and Eugenie Fürstemberg in 1939 and they started to restaure the domain after World War two. Since their death in 1982, the Fürstenberg Beaumesnil  Fondation is doing its best to maintain the domain and its collections.