The Désert de Retz

An Extraordinary 18th Century Garden in Chambourcy, near Paris

Check out all the pages on this site.
Welcome
News
Photography
Chronology
Sources
Shop
Contact
Sonnet
Francophilia
Gardens
Search
Map
Mysteries
Colophon

The Racine de Monville Home Page is the world's first and most authoritative web site devoted to the Désert de Retz and its creator, François Racine de Monville (1734-1797).

DESERT DE RETZ FAQ

What is the Désert de Retz?
Who was Monsieur de Monville?
What does the Desert de Retz look like today?
Who owns the Desert de Retz? Who owned the Desert de Retz?
Can I visit the Desert de Retz?
Can I see a map of the Desert de Retz?
What are some of the mysteries surrounding Monsieur de Monville?

Viewing the Racine de Monville Home Page on your iPhone? Just save this page to add the Retz icon--below--to your Home Screen. Or create an original Retz icon for your Home Screen by using the free Touch Icon app. It only takes a few seconds.

Search this site.

Monville: Forgotten Luminary of the French Enlightenment," the fifth book by Ronald W. Kenyon, webmaster of the Racine de Monville Home Page, can now be ordered directly from the publisher, CreateSpace, or from Amazon.
Click on this link to read a description and order the book from CreateSpace.
Click on these links to read a description, look inside and order Monville: Forgotten Luminary of the French Enlightenment from Amazon.com in the United States, Amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom, Amazon.fr in France, Amazon.de in Germany, Amazon.it in Italy or Amazon.es in Spain.

List price is $15.95, €12.95 and £10.95. Please note that prices may vary slightly higher or lower depending on the vendor, exchange rates, VAT or sales tax and shipping, which may or may not be included, depending on the policy of the vendor. Gift wrap available. All credit cards accepted.

Leave a trace of your visit by sticking a pin in the GuestMap - it's fun and easy!

What's happening at the Désert de Retz?

Discover rare pictures of the Désert de Retz taken in April 1938 by photographer and historian Raymond Lécuyer.
On the occasion of the annual European Heritage Days on September 15 and 16, 2012, a total of 1,544 persons visited the Désert de Retz.
View thirteen photographs of the Desert de Retz taken by Ronald W. Kenyon on July 5, 2012, depicting each of the extant structures.
This rare, color post card depicts Monsieur de Monville's Column House in 1905. .
Learn about Valcour Aimé's Petit Versailles, a picturesque garden in St. James Parish, Louisiana.
Take a look at a website curated by Ronald W. Kenyon and consisting of news articles about French Gardens entitled Gardens in France from the Middle Ages to the Present.
Go for a short guided tour of the Désert de Retz. Your tour guides? Dr. Pierre Morange, Mayor of Chambourcy, and Francois Racine de Monville himself!
Was Monsieur de Monville a Freemason?
View Mexican artist Lirio Garduño-Buono's paintings, The Chinese House and Pina Bausch inside the Broken Column, both inspired by the Désert de Retz.
Watch Les Folies de Retz, a one-minute forty-nine second slide show of the Desert de Retz--past and present.
The Désert de Retz makes the front cover of France's mass-circulation weekly L'Express.
The Désert de Retz was the inspiration for New York-based painter Carol Markel's painting Folly Wedding.
At least two surrealist paintings by French artist and film-maker Jean Barral were inspired by the Désert de Retz.
A twenty-first century Désert de Retz? In England? Learn more about Alnwick Garden
The Désert de Retz is above ground, but underground is the strange and mysterious Aqueduc de Retz.
On connaît le Désert de Retz. Mais connaissez-vous l'Aqueduc de Retz, insolite et souterrain.
Watch a video of the Désert de Retz from the archives of the Institut National de l'Audiovisuel (INA).
Monsieur de Monville's Column House selected as one of the world's Top 7 Weirdest Houses!
An English Monville? Learn more about John "Mad Jack" Fuller and his follies.
Read an exclusive, first-hand account of a visit to the Désert de Retz in 1952.
Enoch Robinson, an American Monville?
Did Monsieur de Monville's Column House portend the French Revolution?

Latest update April 7, 2013. Dernière mise à jour le 7er avril 2013. 18 Germinal CCXXI

OneStat

Get Flash !

Entire contents copyright © 1996-2013 by Ronald W. Kenyon. All rights reserved. Copying of any portion of this website without the written authorization of the author is forbidden. Permission to publish content from this website in print or online will be granted by the author upon request. Links to this site are welcome; no authorization is required but notification is requested.