History of the George Sand estate

Located in Nohant in the Berry region of France, George Sand's estate was a source of inspiration and a refuge for the writer, an emblematic, multi-faceted female figure of the 19th century!

NOHANT BEFORE GEORGE SAND

Its construction

In 1767, Philippe Péarron de Serennes, a former infantry officer and governor of Vierzon, bought the fiefdom of Nohant and built the mansion we know today on the site of an ancient medieval château.

Nohant 1818, de Fremoville dessinateur
©Musée de la vie romantique- Roget Viollet

His acquisition by Marie-Aurore Dupin de Francueil, grandmother of George Sand

In 1793, Philippe Péarron de Serennes sold the estate to Marie-Aurore Dupin de Francueil (1748-1821), the natural daughter of Marshal de Saxe and paternal grandmother of Amantine Aurore Lucile Dupin, better known to you as George Sand. The estate consisted of 230 hectares of land, the house and several outbuildings.

Grand-mère paternelle de George Sand
© Pascal Lemaître / Centre des monuments nationaux

Aurore (future George Sand) discovers Nohant at the age of 4

On their return from Spain, where her father was serving with Napoleon's armies, the family stopped off at Nohant, and Aurore, fascinated by the place, lived the most important moments of her life there.

A few days after their arrival, in 1808, her father died suddenly from a fall from his horse. It was an event that changed Aurore's destiny! Her grandmother wanted to take charge of her granddaughter's education, and changed the deal with her mother Sophie Victoire Delaborde.

Until the age of 13, Aurore led a free life, playing with peasants her own age in the garden and park while studying.

These childhood memories have had the secret of attaching me to the house with bonds of affection and well-being, so that I never leave it without weeping with regret, and never return without weeping with joy.

Portrait de George Sand enfant
© Paris Musées / Musée de la Vie Romantique

A family legacy

From the age of 13 to 16, she attended a convent in Paris, returning to Nohant in 1820 to manage the property and care for her ailing grandmother.

Following her grandmother' s death in 1821, Aurore inherited the estate and married Baron Dudevant (1795-1871) eight months later, with whom she had two children: Maurice (1823-1883) and Solange (1828-1899). Through the marriage, management of the property passed to the husband.

Domaine de George Sand vu du ciel — Domaine de George Sand
© Gillard et Vincent

An essential living environment

Aurore took the name George Sand in 1832 with the publication of her first novel, Indiana. Freed from marital tutelage a few years later, the novelist spent most of her life in Nohant, where she wrote most of her prolific output: novels, stories, short stories, plays, critical and political articles, autobiographical texts and correspondence.

Nohant was the setting for George Sand's writing . She devoted part of her work to a struggle for social change, defending republican values throughout her life. The writer was actively involved in the attempt to set up a democratic government in 1848.

Her home was a place for meetings and exchanges. George Sand surrounded herself with those dear to her, her children, her friends from Berry and Paris, some of them major artists : Frédéric Chopin (her companion for nine years), Franz Liszt, Honoré de Balzac, Eugène Delacroix, Pauline Viardot, Théophile Gautier, Gustave Flaubert, Alexandre Manceau...

A woman of her time with an exceptional destiny, George Sand made her home a place of conviviality and intense artistic emulation.

She died in Nohant in 1876 and is buried in the family cemetery next to the garden.

Boudoir
© Colombe Clier / Centre des monuments nationaux

Nohant after George Sand

The little girls

When George Sand died in 1876, her granddaughters Lolo and Titite were aged 10 and 8 respectively. The house was soon deserted by Maurice and his family.

At the age of 30, Gabrielle (Titite) moved to Nohant and occupied her childhood bedroom, which she decorated and furnished in the "Chinese" style of the time. She died in this room in 1909 at the age of 41. Aurore (Lolo), in turn, moved to Nohant and made her sister's room her own, having shared it with her during their childhood.

With no direct descendants, they wished to bequeath the estate to the State so that the memory of their grandmother, George Sand, would live on.

In 1952, the State became the owner of the estate, leaving the usufruct to Aurore until the end of her life in September 1961, at the canonical age of 95.

Chambre des petites filles de George Sand
© Philippe Berthé / Centre des monuments nationaux

Nohant today

The George Sand estate includes the house, outbuildings, farmyard, garden, park and cemetery.

A visit to the house of George Sand, a woman of her time with an exceptional destiny, allows you to discover the many facets of her personality. The rooms, objects and furniture are living witnesses to her rich past.

A stroll through the six-hectare garden and park, which has remained virtually unchanged since the writer's time, is like walking in George Sand's footsteps: from childhood, she developed her imagination here, loved to scrutinize nature and experiment with acclimatization... It also bears witness to the diversity of her interests and her attachment to nature.