Jean-Claude Brialy's estate

The Domaine de Jean-Claude Brialy in Monthyon opens its doors to the public, discovering an authentic residence in which visitors are instantly immersed in the world of Jean-Claude Brialy.

In 1959, Jean-Claude Brialy was just twenty-six when he acquired "Monthyon". While shooting Claude Chabrol's Le beau Serge, his first major role with "Nouvelle Vague" star Bernadette Laffont, he broke two vertebrae during a particularly brutal wrestling scene.
Bedridden for five months, the doctor recommended that he go to the countryside for his convalescence.

Jean-Jacques Debout and Marie-José Nat showed him photos of a property for sale: the château de Monthyon, sixty kilometers from Paris.
However, his friends advised him against embarking on a twenty-million-franc extravaganza - the old francs from before the 1960 reform - as the interior of this château of over 600 m2 had to be completely redone!
He obtained a bank loan, and three of his friends - not least François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard and Claude Chabrol - lent him the rest.
Twenty years later, Jean-Claude Brialy would confide, "I signed this house on my birthday, March 30, 1959... without seeing it and without any money.

He would come here every weekend until his death in 2007, welcoming numerous personalities from the worlds of cinema, theater, politics and the arts.
Shortly before his death, he donated the estate to the City of Meaux. For testamentary reasons, implementation of the cultural project began in 2021 and continues today.


An authentic place, open to the public:
During a visit, the public can relive the days when the Dorléac sisters, Romy Schneider, Marie-José Nat, Barbara, Claudia Cardinale, Isabelle Adjani, Jean Marais, François Truffaut... were all guests of the master of the house.
As visitors enter each room of the château, they are instantly immersed in the world of Jean-Claude Brialy.