The Château Woolsack or Château de Woolsack or The Woolsack is a former hunting lodge located in the commune of

Mimizan Mimizan (; oc, Mamisan) is a commune in the Landes department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in south-western France. There are two separate districts of the town: Mimizan-Bourg (town center) and Mimizan-Plage (resort). Geography Mimizan is a seaside ...

in the department of Landes in the

Aquitaine Aquitaine ( , , ; oc, Aquitània ; eu, Akitania; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Aguiéne''), archaic Guyenne or Guienne ( oc, Guiana), is a historical region of southwestern France and a former administrative region of the country. Since 1 Janu ...

region of south-western France. Built in 1911 on the shores of Lake Aureilhan by

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster Hugh Richard Arthur Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster, (familiarly " Bendor"; 19 March 1879 – 19 July 1953) was a British landowner and one of the wealthiest men in the world. He was the son of Victor Grosvenor, Earl Grosvenor, son of the ...

, it is a replica in the

Tudor style Tudor Revival architecture (also known as mock Tudor in the UK) first manifested itself in domestic architecture in the United Kingdom in the latter half of the 19th century. Based on revival of aspects that were perceived as Tudor architecture ...

of the home of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist. He was born in British India, which inspired much of his work. ...

- the author of ''

The Jungle Book ''The Jungle Book'' (1894) is a collection of stories by the English author Rudyard Kipling. Most of the characters are animals such as Shere Khan the tiger and Baloo the bear, though a principal character is the boy or "man-cub" Mowgli, w ...

''. It is on a site which has been listed and protectedPresentation panel of the monument onsite since 18 July 1978.

Presentation

Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Duke of Westminster

The 2nd Duke of Westminster, born in 1879, came from one of the richest families of Great Britain.

Origins of the castle

The Duke came to Landes in 1910 on the advice of his friend Rawlinson who hunted

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

with Mr. Bacon. He was captivated by the beautiful scenery.Exposition ''ASEM Archeology'' at Mimizan, July 2009 Shortly after this first visit the Duke purchased a wooded area of over 10 hectares on the banks of Lake Aureilhan to build a hunting lodge.''Mimizan, Woolsack,

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

, and Le Pylone'', Georges Cassagne, imprimerie Andres à Labouheyre, June 2011 It was offered to him by the British Crown in recognition of the courage he showed during the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South ...

and for services rendered. Construction work began in 1911. The architects Detmar Blow and Fernand Billerey used plans made by Sir

Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...

for the property "Woolsack" in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

which was built by Cecil Rhodes for

, and which also inspired the name of the property in Mimizan.

Life at the château

The Duke of Westminster regularly stayed in his new

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

property''Mimizan, a nod at the past'', Georges Cassagne, édition Atlantica, 2007, p 91 until 1940 and for some time beyond for official obligations. In the absence at the time of any land access, the Duke used a boat to access his property, where he organized hunts and receptions. His coming was an important event for the region: many inhabitants of the town were in his service.''Mimizan, Pearl of the Silver Coast'', d'Hervé Foglia An English quarter was built next to the castle: a dozen bungalows, all in white and black lacquered wood. They accommodated the grooms alongside the stables. This area was also occupied by the staff who organised hunting parties, the steward, the head housekeeper, the dog handlers, the mule-drivers, the chauffeur, and the Duke's friends. There were thirty horses occupying the stables and no less than sixty dogs in the kennels. In his memoirs, Loelia Ponsonby, the third wife of the Duke, wrote about Woolsack: "There I cut down trees to reveal the view of the lake, I arranged the steps to go down to the water".

Notable guests

From 1924 to 1930

was a close friend of the Duke and a privileged visitor to the castle where she came to revitalise herself. She was sometimes in the company of the seamstresses of her workshop to whom she offered a dream holiday in ''Le Pylon'' villa,A Guesthouse located at the end of the Rue de la Poste at Mimizan beach years before the introduction of paid holidays. Other personalities of the interwar period followed such as: Charlie Chaplin,

Salvador Dalí Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech, Marquess of Dalí of Púbol (; ; ; 11 May 190423 January 1989) was a Spanish surrealist artist renowned for his technical skill, precise draftsmanship, and the striking and bizarre images in ...

, Suzanne Lenglen, Lloyd George,

Georges Carpentier Georges Carpentier (; 12 January 1894 – 28 October 1975) was a French boxer, actor and World War I pilot. He fought mainly as a light heavyweight and heavyweight in a career lasting from 1908 to 1926. Nicknamed the "Orchid Man", he stood and ...

, King Alfonso XIII of Spain, the designer Sem, and Sir Anthony Eden.

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...

, who had been an intimate friend of the Duke since the Boer War, made frequent visits to Woolsack - alone or with his family. He liked to walk on the shores of the lake and sometimes set up his easel to paint. He produced twenty canvases depicting Mimizan and its surroundings.

Recreation

The area is rich in game.

Wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

and

deer Deer or true deer are hoofed ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. The two main groups of deer are the Cervinae, including the muntjac, the elk (wapiti), the red deer, and the fallow deer; and the Capreolinae, including the re ...

are present in excellent areas for the ''chasse à courre'' ( hunting with hounds) which is the reason for the chateau.

Pigeons Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

thrushes The thrushes are a passerine bird family, Turdidae, with a worldwide distribution. The family was once much larger before biologists reclassified the former subfamily Saxicolinae, which includes the chats and European robins, as Old World flyca ...

, ortolans, and

woodcock The woodcocks are a group of seven or eight very similar living species of wading birds in the genus ''Scolopax''. The genus name is Latin for a snipe or woodcock, and until around 1800 was used to refer to a variety of waders. The English name ...

s were also highly sought after by the Duke. During his time the Duke wanted a wild hunting lodge and to limit access to the Lake of Aureilhan. To this end he built a pontoon which was always visible and made the crossing by motorboat.

After the Duke

Nazi Troops occupied Mimizan on 28 June 1940. The chateau was requisitioned to house officers. On Liberation the house was returned to its owner. On 7 February 1947 the Duke married for the fourth time to Nancy Anne Winifred Sullivan. When the couple were about to come for a honeymoon in Woolsack, the house caught fire on the night of 23 February 1947 and a large part was burnt. The Duke returned to Woolsack only once before his death in 1953 to decide the sale of his property. Restored by Mr. Sargos, the chateau then became the property of ''Groupe Gascogne'' in the 1980s who intended it for seminars and receptions. It is now privately owned by individuals.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Woolsack, Chateau Châteaux in Landes (department) Buildings and structures completed in 1911