A small association with a specific job.
Not the Château's marketing arm, not a heritage charity with a national remit — just over six hundred people who decided the gaps were worth filling.
Photo: Unsplash
One stalled hedge-restoration project, in 2016.
Versailles Vivant started in 2016, when a handful of local residents — a retired conservator, two garden enthusiasts and a history teacher — noticed that the restoration of a badly damaged stretch of hedge had stalled for lack of funding. They organised a small fundraiser. It covered about a third of what the work needed. The association exists because that felt like a start worth continuing, not a failure to give up on.
Milestones
- 2016 Founded, after a hedge restoration stalled for lack of money.
- 2019 270 members, after three years of fast growth.
- 2020 Marie Laurent becomes president of the board.
- 2023 Our first garden apprentice starts her training.
- 2025 620 members, 24 events and €145,000 spent.
- 2026 Our first apprentice joins the estate's own gardening team.
Three things, mostly.
Garden stewardship
Funding stipends for three garden apprentices at a time, and covering maintenance costs for sections of the gardens that don't generate ticket revenue on their own.
Public education
Free public talks, a quarterly journal, and an online archive built from research our own volunteers have put together over the years.
Access & community
Members-only mornings, family-friendly Garden Saturdays and a volunteer programme open to anyone — no application form, just come along.
A volunteer board, elected by the members.
Seven unpaid board seats, elected at the general assembly each March. Day-to-day programming and the apprenticeship fund are run by two part-time staff, the only paid roles in the association. The annual report and the full accounts are published every spring, garden-maintenance bill included.
The formal details.
- Legal form: a non-profit association under the French law of 1 July 1901 (association loi 1901), open to anyone who pays the membership fee.
- Registration: declared at the Préfecture des Yvelines, RNA number W000000000 (a placeholder).
- General assembly: once a year, in March. Members approve the accounts and elect the board; the last one was held on 14 March 2026.
- Statutes and annual report: the statutes (PDF, French original with an English translation) and the 2025 annual report (PDF, in English). The main figures are also on the Impact page.
- Seat: 14 Rue de la Paroisse, 78000 Versailles — a real street, used here as a fictional address.
The people who keep it running.
Marie Laurent
Former museum conservator with 25 years at the Louvre. Joined Versailles Vivant in 2018 and has led the board since 2020.
Thomas Moreau
Historian specialising in 17th-century French gardens. Coordinates our public talks and the quarterly journal.
Claire Dubois
Landscape architect who oversees the volunteer garden Saturdays and the apprentice programme.
Jean-Pierre Martin
Retired archivist who has spent the last decade cataloguing Versailles-related documents and photographs.
Sophie Bernard
Handles member communications, event registrations, and the members-only morning programme.
Philippe Renard
Chartered accountant who ensures every euro is accounted for and the annual reports are accurate.
Thomas Moreau and Claire Dubois are the association's two part-time staff; the others sit on the elected board. The people and their biographies are fictional.
Want to see where the money goes?
The 2025 annual report, with the full accounts, is free to download.
Annual report 2025 (PDF)