Château de Monte-Cristo: The Residence of Alexandre Dumas

In the Parisian suburb of Port-Marly you can find the Château de Monte Cristo, the house belonging to the famous writer Alexandre Duma. It was created by the architect Hippolytus Duran and built in 1847. The castle became the embodiment of the fantasy of the famous French novelist.

“The Three Musketeers” and “The Count of Monte Cristo” brought Dumas worldwide fame and significant money. Being at the peak of his writer’s fame, he decided to buy his own house in the vicinity of Port Marley. So, in the middle of the English garden with grottoes and waterfalls, two beautiful castles appeared. The French architect Duran, who was very popular at that time, built them in full accordance with the instructions of Dumas himself.

The three-story Renaissance castle has an oriental Moorish-style living room. On the facade of the first floor you can find the portraits of great writers – Homer, Dante, Virgil and Shakespeare. Above the entrance is the image of Dumas himself.

Another small castle in the Gothic style was built 200 meters away from the residential building. This was the writer’s workplace and Dumas himself called it “The Château d’If“. On the external masonry of the building you can see the signs with the names of his works.

The luxurious lifestyle soon led Dumas to bankruptcy and he was forced to sell the Monte Cristo Castle in order to pay off his creditors. Since then, the castle has changed many owners, which gradually led to its decline.

 

When the next owner in 1969 set out to demolish the castle for the construction of several hundred cottages, the local Alexander Dumas Society decided to save the historic landmark. Both castles were redeemed and, after restoration, the Museum of Alexandre Dumas opened in them. In 1987, Monte Cristo Castle was officially recognized as a historical monument of France and now, along with the English park, two of its buildings are under the state protection.

 

Want to learn more about various historic interior styles? Read my “History of Styles” eBook: