The Fresh pavilion, Fresh salon or Pavillon frais (in French) is a folly built for Louis XV and Madame de Pompadour by Ange-Jacques Gabriel in the French Garden of the Petit Trianon, in the grounds of the Château de Versailles.
Built between 1751 and 1753, this new building on this small estate, desired by the King to get away from the constraints of the Court, faces the French pavilion and served as a summer dining room where guests could "take fresh air" and enjoy produce from the nearby kitchen garden. This one-room pavilion was designed as green architecture and is entirely covered with green trellis. It features a rectangular, symmetrical garden surrounded by arcades topped by basket-shaped vases, creating an architectural and horticultural harmony. Two small oval basins at the ends of the flowerbeds complete the decor.
Abandoned to weathering and degradation during the French Revolution, the pavilion was razed in 1810 and the garden replaced by lawn. In the 1980s and again in 2010, thanks to sponsorship and after an archaeological campaign, it was entirely rebuilt on the original model, with the original garden design faithfully reproduced. Only the arcades have not yet been restored.
Construction
On the death of his beloved Madame de Châteauroux in 1744, King Louis XV returned to Trianon, the marble château he had neglected during the early years of his reign, and which was suffering from a serious lack of maintenance. In 1747, the architect Ange-Jacques Gabriel, accompanied by the director of buildings Charles Lenormant de Tournehem, drew up a first sketch to restore the château's intimacy. The Marquise de Pompadour, who had been the King's lover for two years, was quick to support the project, with the aim of distracting Louis XV from his melancholy. As early as 1749, a menagerie, consisting simply of a farmyard and a stable, was built on the north-eastern plots of Mansart's château, and, in the center of a new french formal garden, a first pavilion was erected for games, snacks and concerts: the French Pavilion.
As Claude Richard's new fruit and vegetable garden took shape to the north and east of the estate, Louis XV had a "dining room" built near the first pavilion. Quickly dubbed the "Fresh Pavilion" due to its northerly orientation, it was intended for the consumption of produce from the menagerie's vegetable gardens and dairy. Following various projects drawn up by architect Gabriel, Tournehem signed the building order on September 17, 1751. The Thévenin brothers completed the round-arched foundations in 1751 to protect the building from damp, and the Satory gritstone walls were erected the following year. The terraced roof was entirely covered in lead. In July, the windows of the Manufacture Royale des Glaces were installed, with over one hundred and fifty panes of glass. The pavilion's purpose was to open wide onto the gardens, of which it was an extension, through the large central door and the two side French windows, as well as through the two cross windows at the front. The simple architectural design featured a recessed archway at the entrance, reminiscent of the French Pavilion or the nearby aviary. Its originality derived from the trelliswork, executed by Langelin, evocative of gardens and nature.
In 1753, the fresh Pavillon represented the completion of the first part of Gabriel's work at the Petit Trianon, before the estate was handed over to the gardeners and botanists, and the second phase began eight years later with the construction of the Petit Château.
The jardin particulier du Roy
The Fresh Pavilion is located at the end of the southern branch of the Latin cross forming the French Garden. Opposite is the menagerie. The aisle opposite the Fresh Salon leading to the French Pavilion is the same width, in order to preserve the view between the two buildings. At the front of the salon is a rectangular garden, measuring fifty by twenty meters, a veritable "cabinet de verdure" entirely surrounded by trellised arches. These arcades, aligned on the north façade of the building, are made up of a series of iron frames measuring almost 3.50 m high by 2.35 m wide, executed by the locksmith Gamain le Jeune in July 1752. These frames support latticework pilasters encircling the trunks of linden trees with ball-shaped foliage. The entrance is framed by two imposing pillars supporting large baskets. The walkways are covered with river sand.