11th Century : the first mention of "Frobervilla" in
official documents of the time, and of the castle (stately home) in the
hamlet of Hainneville, where Caulmont now has its base.
1503 :
the castle belonged to the Le Roux family, ancestors of the Vattemare,
made noble by royal edict in 1470. Guillaume Le Roux was Lord of the manor
at Hainneville.
1525 :The Vattemare family supported the Reformation but, every
Sunday, demonstrating a very impressive spirit of ecumenism for that era,
the family continued to allow mass to be celebrated in the chapel on their
own private land, as well as performing a Reformed Church service (there
was no church in the village at that time)!
16th Century : The house was bought by the Berry family, who were made noble in 1596, ancestors of the de Larrey family. One of the de Larrey family was Napoleon's doctor. The de Larrey's history is intertwined with this region's Protestant tradition.
Towards
1700 : at the end of Louis X1V's reign, the de Larrey family rebuilt
the present manor house in Hainneville, on the ruins of those of their
predecessors.
The manor house that we see today is a rare example of a building made with white stone from the region. Its architecture is Baroque, simple and symmetrical. It was the definitive 'gentleman's house', a residence for 'l'honnête homme' (the honest, decent gentleman) of the 18th Century. It was built during an era where the middle classes and also the peasant population of Normandy had come to expect a certain quality of life. It was a place of comfort and luxury - the calm before the storm of the Revolution !
You can still see the original style of staircase 'à la Vauban', where the steps are very shallow, so as to allow the ladies in their crinoline skirts to walk daintily, without showing their ankles. The first floor contained two grand bedrooms, surrounded by several adjoining rooms, and the second floor was reserved for the servants. At the front of the house above the original porch and on the upstairs fireplaces, you can still see the coats of arms, with the royal crown, the motto "One against All", and the date : 1635.
1792 : a businessman from Le Havre bought the house. He became a
councillor for the State and the Empire and thus the entire property
and all its grounds, which had previously been divided up, came back
into his ownership. This also included 540 hectares of land and 15 farms
belonging to the castle.
1815 : at the time of the Restauration, the house once again
came under royal ownership. The property was given up, however, by Charles
X, who lost it in a game of whist.
1831 : the property was divided up and sold off to various buyers at auction. During the next 100 years, the house and its land was bought and sold many times by different middle-class families.
1883
: It has been rumoured that Guy de Maupassant spent a holiday in
the Hainneville manor and perhaps set his book "Une Vie" in
Hainneville, describing the house within its pages.
Towards the end of the Second World War, the property (now only
comprising 1300m2) was taken over by a hotel company. Not long after
its establishment, the company folded and the hotel closed.
1956 : an association run by the Reformed Church in Le Havre, bought the house and grounds to use for children's holiday camps
1976 : Caulmont, with the support of its friends, bought the house and grounds and opened it up as a guest house.
Illustration by Pierre Durand