Château Le Quesnel dates back to the twelfth century and was owned by the ultra wealthy Knightly family of Quesnel, albeit, the original château looked different from how it looked in later years.

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During the Thirty Years War (1618 to 1648) the château was raised to the ground by a fire and was subsequently redesigned and rebuilt in 1751 by  the heir to Jean Baptiste Le Fort. Originally the design only included a single floor, however in 1853 Charles (1810-1869), son of Marie-Charlotte The Fort Quesnel - who was married to Alexander, Viscount Blin de Bourdon - added a second floor along with a new pavilion.

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During the First World War, the small town of Quesnel stayed away from the heavy fighting of the front lines, however, the château did become occupied by the Germans from 31st August 1914 resulting in the building being ransacked and additionally suffering bomb damage by the Allies. When the war ended, the new heir to the castle repaired and restored the building before passing it onto his daughter, the Countess of Lussac.

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The Countess lived there until the outbreak of World War II. After the end of Second World War, the castle was abandoned and lay empty.

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In 1985, the property was sold to a Parisian lawyer and in the late 1990s, part of the castle collapsed and became unlivable due to safety concerns of its structure. 

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In December 2017, the château was ravaged by fire, once and for all ending the lifespan of this beautiful château for good. 

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On our explore in 2016, we were able to see it for how it was before the fire. A beautiful château steeped in history - albeit quite derelict and parlous in some places - yet full of the possessions of the former occupants.