http://www.authorstream.com/Presentation/sandamichaela-1887490-hameau2/

The Hameau de la Reine (The Queen's Hamlet) is a rustic retreat in the park of the Château de Versailles built for Marie Antoinette in 1783 near the Petit Trianon. It served as a private meeting place for the Queen and her closest friends, a place of leisure. Designed by the Queen's favoured architect, Richard Mique and with the help of the painter Hubert Robert, it contained a meadowland with lakes and streams, an island with fragrant shrubs and flowers, and various buildings in a rustic or vernacular style, inspired by Norman or Flemish designed, situated around an irregular pond fed by a stream that turned the mill wheel

The building scheme

included a farmhouse, (the farm was to

produce milk and eggs for the queen),

a dairy, a dovecote, a boudoir, a barn that

was burned down during the French

Revolution, a mill and a

tower in the form of a

lighthouse.

The hameau is the best-

known of a series of rustic

garden constructions built at the time, notably the Prince of

Condé's Hameau de

Chantilly (1774–1775)

which was the inspiration for the Versailles hameau. Such model farms

were fashionable among the

French aristocracy at

the time.

Marlborough Tower (The Fishery Tower)

One primary purpose of the hameau was to add to the ambiance of the Petit Trianon, giving the illusion that it was deep in the countryside rather than within the confines of Versailles. Each building is decorated with a garden, an orchard or a flower garden. The largest and most famous of these houses is the "Queen's House" that is connected to the Billiard house by a wooden gallery, at the center of the village. . Its construction is innovative: two rustic buildings are connected by a covered gallery that is curved in a half-moon shape.

The Queen's house

The Queen's house and billiard room is situated in the middle of the Hamlet, and it is the largest and most important building

A spiral staircase offers access to the second floor on one end of the house. These buildings included the Queen’s private chambers, as well as her salons and her parlors. The upper level comprises the petit salon, also known as the "room of the nobles", an anteroom in the form of a "Chinese cabinet" and the large living room with wood panelling hung with tapestries of Swiss style in embroidered wool.Despite the rustic appearance of facades, the interior finish and furnishings created by the carpenter Georges Jacob and the ébéniste Jean-Henri Riesener. Are luxurious

The dovecote and Queen's house staircase

The Marlborough Tower and Queen's house

To the left, another building

housing the billiard room is connected

to the Queen's

house by a wooden gallery

decorated with trellises and twelve hundred St.

Clement faience pots, marked in the blue figures

of the Queen.

The Queen's house

The Queen's house

The Queen's house

Marlborough Tower

This circular tower on the shores of the lake is mainly decorative.

Marlborough Tower

Was originally called “The

Fishery Tower.” It was created

after a popular lullaby from the

era

Dairy, Marlborough Tower and the Queen's house

Marlborough Tower

The basement is used for storage, but the top part of the tower

has a fairytale-esque

design

The Malborough Tower

Starting point of boat rides on the lake, the fishery tower known as the Malborough Tower, houses the material used for pike or carp fishing. Its upper portion was used as an observatory making it possible to communicate with the palace of Versailles via signals. Its name, a reflection of the fashionable anglomania of the time, recalls the song composed in 1722 at the death of the Duke of Malborough.Shepherd,

sculpture on white marble

The Refreshments Dairy and Marlborough Tower

Creams and cheeses were

manufactured in the Preparation Dairy, destroyed under the First Empire, which was located

across from the Refreshments Dairy. There,

milk was skimmed and churned. The dairy products were tasted by

the Queen in the Refreshments

Dairy.

the Refreshments Dairy

Furnished with marble tables the diary was designed with sanitation in mind: the rooms are light colored marble, which gives the impression of cleanliness

The Boudoir

With its roof of reeds, dormer

window, its lean-to and old

stone staircase, the Queen’s Small House, known as the boudoir, is made up of a living room

and a wardrobe and is surrounded by a closed

garden

The Boudoir, (4.6 x 5.2 metres) is the smallest structure, and it was nicknamed “the little house of the Queen.” Marie Antoinette would retire here by herself, or else with one or two of her friends. The boudoir was altered slightly during the Second Empire, but its small construction has remained to this day.

The Boudoir and the mill

The Mill, built and fitted from 1783 to 1788, was never used for grinding grain, contrary to what is often argued. The wheel is driven by a stream derived from the Grand Lake and is only a decorative element.

No mechanism or wheel were

installed in the factory. The interior

decoration was simple and neat.

The MillThis structure is one of the most picturesque of the Hamlet. Each façade of the building is decorated slightly differently. This mill also served as a laundry

The MillBuilt at the edge of the lake and on a fore bay, the Mill also had a washing-place. It was intended for the use of the village.

The Mill

The Warming RoomWith its arrangement at right angles, the warming room is the hovel which sheltered a large kitchen, a pantry and small offices.It is recessed at the rear of the Queen's house. It has a stone interior and included a large kitchen, a bakery, a fireplace and pantry, also linen and silverware. It was used to prepare the dishes for dinners given by the Queen in the house or mill

Dovecote and Guard house

The dovecote and pigeon coops were near the lake. Roosters and hens of various species were brought from the west of France and settled in the aviary in 1785 for Marie Antoinette’s use.

Dovecote and Guard house

Located next to a ballroom, a barn and a

hen house which have all disappeared, the charming

dovecote still stands near the stone

bridge which spans the

carp-populated

river

Dovecote and Guard house

Guard house

The Guard's Room of Marie-Antoinette's estate

This building is situated on the edge of the field near the woods. Its original occupant was the Swiss guard, Jean Bersy, who lived there with his family. Because of the prominence of the occupants of the Hamlet, the guard was necessary for Marie Antoinette’s security

The Guard's Room

The Farm

The Farm

According to the Queen’s wishes, animals brought from Switzerland were raised on the Farm: cows, bull, calves, “nanny-goats”, goats, sheep and a white goat that was not malicious. Its porch is surmounted by two stone globes. Valy Bussard, the farmer, came to the Hameau to run a functional farm.Decorated in a rustic style, the farm included three bedrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room. It was well stocked with animals and vegetable gardens, whose crops led to agricultural and culinary experimentation at Versailles.

Marie-Antoinette, seeking to flee the Court of Versailles, ordered the construction of her hamlet in 1783. There, she regularly found the charms of country life, surrounded by her lady's companions. It became a veritable farm, directed by a farmer, whose products supplied the kitchens of the Palace. Under the First Empire, the Hamlet was refurnished with refinement for Empress Marie-Louise

Pictures: Adrian Moacã & Internet

Copyright: All the images belong to their authors

Presentation: Sanda Foişoreanu

www.slideshare.net/michaelasanda

Sound: Claude Debussy - Sonate for flute, violin and harp.Pastorale.Linda Chesis-flute Sara Cutler-harp