A glorious summer explore on honeymoon whilst around France. My new wife and I grabbed a catacomb exploring friend of ours, Cigale and headed to the north of Paris. We were hoping to gain access to both the sanatorium and the chateau occupying the property, but there were active builders in the chateau and the tunnels connecting the two had been bricked in (as well as the chiselled out chatiere dug through the bricks!). Access involved climbing up a very dodgy drainpipe to the second floor, only to find on our exit a small crawl out on the ground floor. D'oh! On with the show.
Franconville Chateau was built in 1876. It is an exact replica of Castle House-Laffitte, built with stone from the quarry at Saint Maximin, in a modern and sober style for the time. The estate was acquired in 1924 by the region to accommodate patients suffering from tuberculosis. There was then built a huge wing on the back of the chateau. In January 1929 it housed 300 patients, quickly increasing its capacity to 500. The sanatorium was named after Fernand Bezançon, a famous physician of the time.
Closed since 1992, it is now open and vandalized.
There is supposedly also an orangery on the grounds as well as a theatre, but we didn't manage to find them
Franconville Chateau was built in 1876. It is an exact replica of Castle House-Laffitte, built with stone from the quarry at Saint Maximin, in a modern and sober style for the time. The estate was acquired in 1924 by the region to accommodate patients suffering from tuberculosis. There was then built a huge wing on the back of the chateau. In January 1929 it housed 300 patients, quickly increasing its capacity to 500. The sanatorium was named after Fernand Bezançon, a famous physician of the time.
Closed since 1992, it is now open and vandalized.
There is supposedly also an orangery on the grounds as well as a theatre, but we didn't manage to find them
