Bois des Moutiers is a 30-acre estate located in Varengeville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, known for its rhododendrons, azaleas, and magnolias, which were introduced and naturalized among local flora. The property has a large park overlooking the sea and formal gardens surrounding a manor house, unique in France, of the work of the famous English partnership of architect Edwin Lutyens and garden designer Gertrude Jekyll. The estate is listed as a historical monument and a Remarkable Garden of France.
In 1897, Guillaume Mallet became the owner of a large valley overlooking the sea. He entrusted Edwin Lutyens, a young British architect, with the enlargement and renovation of his residence, and Gertrude Jekyll, a celebrated English garden designer, with the garden arrangement. These two artists worked together to create a unified work: “the house has been designed to look at the gardens and the gardens have been designed to be looked at from the house.” The original, undistinguished house was built around 1850, later extended and substantially remodeled in the Arts-and-Crafts style by Edwin Lutyens. The buildings of the Bois des Moutiers are conceived as a full-fledged work where every detail of wrought iron and woodwork has been taken care of during their creation.
The gardens, seven in all, are enclosed areas (chambres verts – “green rooms” of plants) surrounding the house on the south and east sides. Gertrude Jekyll, their creator, mixed colors and scents together in order to design a unique atmosphere in each of them. The layout of the gardens relates closely to the rooms within the house. Reflecting the Theosophist philosophy of Guillaume Mallet and his wife Marie-Adélaïde Grunelius, “it was understood that the architecture and gardens should work together towards the harmonious development of the spirit.”
The acidic soil and maritime climate are favorable for introducing species such as Himalayan rhododendrons and azaleas from China. Behind the house, beyond a wide lawn, Guillaume Mallet designed and planted a vast area, which stretches down to the sea cliffs, with a maze of winding paths through a dense woodland of native and exotic trees, sheltering an understorey of rhododendrons and azaleas, hydrangeas, Japanese maples, camellias, and magnolias.
After Guillaume Mallet and his wife Marie-Adelaïde died in 1946, their son André and his wife Mary inherited the estate that had been badly damaged during the war. The whole family devoted their energies to restoring the estate to its original condition. In 1970, the Mallet family opened their property to the public. The Bois des Moutiers became the first private garden in France that could be visited by the public. Very soon, it was considered to be one of the most beautiful gardens of France and was listed as a historical monument in 1975 before being awarded the status of a “Remarkable Garden of France”. Since its opening, two million people have visited this park.
Visitor numbers have declined in the last few years, and maintaining the estate has become increasingly difficult for Antoine Bouchayer-Mallet, the current owner, to manage. The inheritance laws of the Code Napoleon mean that ownership is now legally divided between 11 people (descendants of the original owners), and in the next generation, there will be many more. So Bouchayer-Mallet has considered putting the estate up for sale, possibly through an English estate agency. It is uncertain that Bois des Moutiers will be open to the public in the future.