At the beginning

In 1688, the oldest documents consulted attest that the house in Bois de la Noë belonged to and was inhabited by Isabelle Elisabeth Biré, whose cousin, Maurille Biré, was lord of the Sénaigerie in Bouaye . Isabelle, then Thomas Biré, lived in the Château du Bois de la Noë until 1731.

In the middle of the 18th century, in 1749, Nicolas Arnous, an important Nantes shipbuilder, transformed La Noë into a “Folie Nantaise” (country residence).

The Giraud family

After a few intermediary buyers, the property was resold in year 11 (1803) to René Giraud and his wife Marie-Anne Blanchard. The Giraud family remained owners of the estate until the end of the 19th century.

At that time, it extended over 500 hectares with rare species from all over the world, making the estate the largest land property in the commune.

In 1884, Pierre Auguste Giraud died and a long and laborious succession began. This led to the dismantling of the estate: the castle and part of the park were sold in 1892 to the Count of Melquié, the other lands, farms and houses, being dispersed to different local buyers.

WWI

During the First World War, the town of Bouaye was the location of the cantonment of the 28th company of the 45th Territorial Infantry Regiment. The Château du Bois de la Noë and its outbuildings were requisitioned to house troops and officers.

A place to walk

In 1918, the Château du Bois de la Noë became the property of Mr. and Mrs. Janning who exhibited and sold paintings and antiques there. The place is proposed as a destination for walking to the people of Nantes, invited to stroll under the shade of the park and to refresh themselves at the castle's dairy.

A luxury hotel-restaurant

In 1927, Mr. Bonnet, an entrepreneur in Algiers, acquired La Noë as a holiday residence in France. Luxury and modern comfort were largely present there. The estate is then entrusted to management by Mr. Huguel, and becomes a luxury hotel restaurant (Aristide Briand, Paul Bellamy, Gabriel Guist'hau and other personalities will go there).

Fires

Joseph Caillaud, President of the Council, passing through Nantes on April 25, 1932, for a Republican meeting was to dine there, but a fire broke out, forcing the guests to leave.

On the night of July 31, 1934, a major fire broke out. The fire spread quickly, help was awaited, and it would not be until early morning that the firefighters would be able to bring the fire under control. The damage is considerable. The castle was sold as is to Mr. Guichaud who restored it for living there.

World War II and after

During the Second World War, Le Bois de la Noë suffered German occupation.

In the post-war period, the Guichauds made their park available for shows or parish fairs.

Under pressure from his heirs and the urbanization of Bouaye, Mr. Guichaud decided to leave La Noë in 1966, after creating a subdivision in part of the park and woods. All that remains is a little more than 2 hectares of park.

Today

Four families succeeded one another until the arrival in 2011 of Patricia and Philippe Gonnord who took over the gîte and guest rooms activity initiated by their predecessor and have since undertaken restoration work on the castle.