Château de Charmes Open House – European Heritage Days

To mark Heritage Days, the Château de Charmes will open its doors for a very special weekend: this will be the last chance to explore the château fully furnished with the collection assembled by Nicolas Chenivesse over the past ten years.

Purchased in ruins at the age of twenty, after nearly two decades of neglect, the Château de Charmes underwent ten years of uninterrupted restoration. Now saved and restored, it has become a living, inhabited residence—fully furnished and open to the public.

In parallel with this restoration, Nicolas Chenivesse has built up a significant collection of paintings, furniture, and objets d’art over the years. Each piece was chosen to complement the château’s architecture and décor, coming together to form a particularly cohesive whole that reflects his work as a collector and interior designer.

This year’s Heritage Days will thus mark the culmination of ten years of restoration, collecting, and curating the residence.

For the last time, visitors will be able to explore the collection in its entirety: the works will still be displayed in the salons and apartments for which they were selected, offering a complete view of the Château de Charmes as it was envisioned and arranged by its owner.

After this weekend, the collection will be reorganized before being sold on-site at auction by the prestigious Aguttes auction house. New furnishings will then gradually be added so that the château remains furnished, vibrant, and open to the public.

It will therefore still be possible to visit Charmes, but never again to experience it exactly as it stands today.

These days will also be marked by the unveiling of the portrait of Nicolas Chenivesse by Dorian Guo. As a portraitist of the elite, major collectors, and the last of the socialites in Paris, Rome, and New York, Dorian Guo carries on a tradition in which a portrait never tells the story of just a face—it tells the story of a world.

The writer Camille Pascal, a laureate of the Académie française, sees him as a direct heir to Carmontelle, the Serebriakoff brothers, Erté, and Philippe Jullian, placing his work within the great tradition of 17th- and 18th-century genre painting—a blend of visual pleasure, salon conversation, and intellectual stimulation. The writer Camille Pascal, a laureate of the Académie française, places his work in the lineage of Carmontelle, the Serebriakoff brothers, Erté, and Philippe Jullian. A new work that fits naturally into the setting of Charmes.

This development also marks a new chapter in the property’s history: the Château de Charmes, now fully restored, is being offered for sale so that it may be passed on to a new owner who will carry on its legacy.

As for the collection, it does not end with Charmes. Some iconic pieces will be retained, and while others are preparing to find new homes with collectors, estates, and museums, new acquisitions are already quietly joining the collection. A living collection is, by its very nature, in constant flux.

These European Heritage Days thus mark the culmination of an adventure that began ten years ago: the moment when restoration, interior design, and the collection come together one last time in their most accomplished form.

Château de Charmes

From Saturday 19 to Sunday 20 September 2026 between 9 am and 12 pm and between 2 pm and 6 pm.

Full price: 15 €, Reduced price: 12 €, Child (6-13 years): 8 €.

Free entry for children under 6.