General & History

The former House of Marquis de Lafayette, this is a 4* rated Chateau-Hotel. The Chateau is situated in the heart of the Loire Valley. Each of the 12 bedrooms is dedicated to a French celebrity (some of them actually lived in the castle) and everything has been done to make you feel that they have just left the room. Walking in the park with its secular trees, having a drink in the 18th century living rooms, relaxing in the comfortable library, listening to your favourite opera in the music room close to the chapel, this chateau gives to you the opportunity to live once in a lifetime moments.

 

The Château was built over the ruins of a former fortress that protected a crossing over the Indre river. The château today bears witness to three separate architectural periods.

 

THE CHATEAU OF THE DU FAU LORDS: In the 15th century, the du Fau family, who had just acquired the fiefdom, built a fortified castle. Only the two round towers which frame the façade onto the gardens and the guards room remain from the castle of Jehan du Fau, who was Louis XI's Grand Master of the King's Residence in Loches. The chateau subsequently became the property of Pierre Forget, who was Secretary of State under Henri III and Henri IV, and responsible for drawing up the Edict of Nantes. The castle then became the property of Aymard de Chouppes, Chevalier of the King's Order, King's Counsellor, Lieutenant General in his Armies, and childhood friend of Louis XIII. The archives for the Indre et Loire department also mention a certain lady, Geneviève Baron, the wife and then widow of Monsieur de Lestourville, who for over twenty years bought up the du Fau domains piecemeal. The lady's tenacity was not however rewarded, for no sooner had she achieved her goal than she was forced to relinqish the entire property for 142 900 pounds to Aymard de Chouppes.

 

THE CHATEAU OF LOUIS DE BARBERIN: In March 1710, King Louis XIV raised the Baron du Fau to the rank of Marquis, in order to reward "Our dearly beloved friend Louis de Barberin, Knight, camp Marshal of Our Armies, Commander of Our Order of Saint Louis, Commander on Our behalf in the Old Brisach government ". Louis de Barberin commenced major alteration work to adapt the château to current tastes: the moat was filled in, a vast formal park and garden were laid out, outhouses were built to the south-west and an east wing perpendicular to the house was added. A chapel, dedicated to Saint Louis, was built as an extension to the main body of the house. The chapel's foundation stone was blessed on 30th July 1717, and two years later the chapel's founder was buried there. Marie Marguerite de Rarécourt de la Vallée-Pimodan, Louis de Barberin's wife, commissioned Claude Dubois, a sculptor from Dijon, to carve the sumptuous marble mausoleum in his memory. The General Marquis de Lafayette inherited Reignac when his mother, Marie Julie de la Rivière, Louis de Barberin's great-granddaughter came into her inheritance. The marquis and his wife, née Adrienne de Noailles, stayed frequently in the chateau until 1792 when the Lafayette family relinquished the château.

 

THE CHATEAU IN THE 19TH CENTURY: In 1861, the Müller family bought the castle and with the help of Collet, the architect, re-vamped the property in neo-gothic style. At the time, people particularly appreciated the refurbishment of the chapel: "the roof has been entirely redone and topped with an extremely graceful spire, the interior has been painted with an imitation stone effect and the mosaic stained glass is the work of Monsieur Lobin". Edouard Müller was the mayor from 1873 to 1913 and deputy for the Loches constituency from 1890 to 1893. It was due to him that the little town gradually modernised: a station, a post office, a library, a fire station and a new washhouse were all installed. Around 1900, the château boasted electric lighting generated by its water-wheel on the Indre river. However, in 1911, the Henrotte-Müller bank went bankrupt and the Müller assets were seized. The château then became the property of the Vibraye-Cheverny family until 1984.