Lost to the Crown because of fraud on the State, it was donated by King Henri II to his mistress Diane de Poitiers. However, she preferred Chateau Chenonceau and sold the property to the former owner’s son, Philippe Hurault, who built the chateau between 1624 and 1630.
During the next 150 years ownership changed many times and in 1765 a major interior renovation was undertaken. Required to forfeit much of the Hurault wealth at the time of the French Revolution, it was sold in 1802 but bought back by the family in 1824.
In 1914, the owner opened the chateau to the public, one of the first to ever do so. The family still operates it, and Chateau Cheverny remains a top tourist attraction to this day, renowned for its magnificent interior rooms and its collection of furniture, tapestries, and objets d’art.
The Belgian comic book creator Herge used Cheverny as a model for his fictional "Chateau de Moulinsart" in the Tintin books.