Lanniron estate's history

Quimper bishop's former summer residence

This property belonged to the bishops of Quimper, counts of Cornouaille, for thousand years:  some charters of the 13th century were even signed here.

In the 15th century, Lord Bertrand de Rosmadec erected a new manor which his successors used until the end of the 18th century either as a permanent residence or a summer residence.

The creation of the gardens  

In the 13th century, Lord François de Coëtlogon extended the property.

He will be remembered not only for his great deeds as a bishop but also for creating wonderful gardens.

We do not know for certain if the planning of garden were drawn by the Mollet Lenôtre’s predecessors as gardeners of the King or possibly by the King himself.

The main embellishments of Lanniron were the large canal, the fountains, the ornamental Lake of Neptune and the Orangerie which is now the place for concerts during the musical weeks of Quimper. Also Lord Ploeuc and Lord Farcy beautified Lanniron and the manor was extended.

From the revolution to the present estate 

During the revolution, Lanniron sadly declined and it was subsequently sold by the State in 1791. It was looted, it had several owners for about 10 years and Emmanuel Harrington converted the manor to a Palladian residence. From plannings, that were drawn in London, we can deduce that Harrington wanted to modernise the gardens by removing the terraces. Fortunately, he did not have the necessary time to execute his project.

Charles de Kerret, the grandfather of the present owners, became the owner of Lanniron in 1833. His family continued the rehabilitation of the park after receiving advice given by close relatives, who where artists and great travellers and lovers of the gardens of Italy and Cannes such as those belonging to Charles de Malartic. Madam de la Sablière, the daughter of the owner introduced some herbs when she returned from her stay in Constantinople with her son Georges, a young explorer of America and Alaska. He also brought back Sequoïas and Wellingtonias. Lanniron suffered a lot during the German occupation in the last war. Around 1950 one of the main features of the big canal, its water, was deprived. The camping site of Orangerie de Lanniron was created in 1969 in order to maintain the survival of the property and to attract tourists to the banks of the River Odet and its region.