Les Essarts, Forbes family estate
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Les Essarts is the Forbes family estate at Saint-Briac, France, and the international family seat of the descendants of James Grant Forbes (b. Shanghai, China), a member of the Forbes family of China and Boston who settled in Brittany at Les Essarts. He is the grandfather of two famous politicians, Brice Lalonde, a Green Party candidate for President of France in 1981, and US Senator John Forbes Kerry, the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America in 2004. Many of the Forbes family have socialized during summers spent in Brittany at Les Essarts.
Les Essarts had been occupied and used as a Nazi headquarters during World War II. When the Germans fled, they bombed Les Essarts and burnt it down. The sprawling estate was rebuilt in 1954.
Les Essarts is also considered a Winthrop family estate. As the two families are related and the Winthrops still have use of Les Essarts.