Short answers, pulled from the story.
Joséphine de Beauharnais bought the manor house in April 1799 for herself and her husband General Napoléon Bonaparte. She paid well over 300,000 francs for the land which was a run-down property at that time.
From 1803 until her death in 1814, Josephine cultivated nearly 200 new plants in France for the first time including some 250 varieties of roses gathered from places like her native Martinique. The grounds also housed kangaroos emus black swans zebras sheep gazelles ostriches chamois a seal antelopes and llamas.
The estate sat near the left bank of the Seine about 16 kilometers west of Paris in the commune of Rueil-Malmaison. It served as the headquarters of the French government from 1800 to 1802 under Napoleon Bonaparte during his time as First Consul.
Napoléon returned and took residence in the house after his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. He stayed there before his exile to the island of Saint Helena spending his final days in France here.
In 1896 the patron and philanthropist Daniel Iffla known as Osiris purchased the château along with its park when the land had been reduced to 6 hectares. He donated it to the State in 1903 which led to the opening of a museum on the estate in 1905.