The Château de la Guignardière () is a 16th-century

château A château (; plural: châteaux) is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor, or a fine country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally, and still most frequently, in French-speaking regions. Nowaday ...

located outside Avrillé, in the

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

, western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. It was begun in 1555, but was never completed. The building and park are open to the public.

History

The château was begun in around 1555 for Jean Girard, panetier, or breadmaster, to

King Henri II Henry II (french: Henri II; 31 March 1519 – 10 July 1559) was King of France from 31 March 1547 until his death in 1559. The second son of Francis I and Duchess Claude of Brittany, he became Dauphin of France upon the death of his elder broth ...

. It was planned as a symmetrical building, flanked by tall wings. However, in 1563, Girard was assassinated, and the building site was abandoned. The master masons, who had been imported from Paris by Girard, dispersed across the local area, influencing the designs of several buildings in the area. Further building was not carried out until the 18th century, when Sylvestre, Count of Chaffault, attempted to complete it. Ionic

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s were added to the principal windows, surmounted by a

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

inscribed with the Count's

armorial bearing A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its who ...

s and the date 1773. Gardens were laid out, and the large pond excavated. However, the Count, a royalist, was forced to flee the country following the arrest of

Louis XVI Louis XVI (''Louis-Auguste''; ; 23 August 175421 January 1793) was the last King of France before the fall of the monarchy during the French Revolution. He was referred to as ''Citizen Louis Capet'' during the four months just before he was ...

during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. During his absence, a republican mob plundered the château, defacing the armorial bearings, and killing the Count's children. By the early 19th century the château was owned by the Marquis de Saint Denis, a keen agricultural improver. He transformed the gardens, and planted numerous exotic trees, including

Magnolia ''Magnolia'' is a large genus of about 210 to 340The number of species in the genus ''Magnolia'' depends on the taxonomic view that one takes up. Recent molecular and morphological research shows that former genera ''Talauma'', ''Dugandiodendro ...

, Swamp Cypress, '' Zelkova'' and

California Redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

. His successor Henri Luce de Tremont also hoped to complete the château, but instead he chose to move the curved perron stair from the proposed central bay of the garden facade, to the actual central bay. From 1920, the statesman Georges Clemenceau rented a house, known as ''la bicoque'', ("the shack") on the estate. He became friends with the owner, Amedée Luce de Tremont, and was regularly entertained in the dining room of the château. ''La bicoque'' is now a state property, and is open to the public as the ''Maison de Georges Clemenceau''. The château remains privately owned, and is now open to the public. It has been classed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

'' since 1978.

Architecture

The château is an example of French Renaissance architecture. It comprises a three-bay section of three storeys, the proposed central block, and a tall wing of four storeys. The steeply-sloping slate roofs are supported on the original oak timbers, felled on the estate and dated by

dendrochronology Dendrochronology (or tree-ring dating) is the scientific method of dating tree rings (also called growth rings) to the exact year they were formed. As well as dating them, this can give data for dendroclimatology, the study of climate and atmos ...

to 1556. The roofs are topped by very tall red-brick chimneys. Each window has a

mullion A mullion is a vertical element that forms a division between units of a window or screen, or is used decoratively. It is also often used as a division between double doors. When dividing adjacent window units its primary purpose is a rigid supp ...

and two

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

s, made of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies undergro ...

, as are other decorative features. The interiors include large granite fireplaces, probably modelled on published designs by the Italian architect Sebastiano Serlio.

Parc des Aventuriers

The gardens of the château have been developed as the ''Parc des Aventuriers'', a children's adventure trail and treasure hunt, based on the history of world

exploration Exploration refers to the historical practice of discovering remote lands. It is studied by geographers and historians. Two major eras of exploration occurred in human history: one of convergence, and one of divergence. The first, covering most ...

. Within the park are a number of prehistoric menhirs, as well as more recent garden features.

References

External links

Château de la Guignardière website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Guignardiere, Chateau De La Houses completed in 1555 Châteaux in Vendée Gardens in Vendée Museums in Vendée Historic house museums in Pays de la Loire 1555 establishments in France