The Château de Rastignac is a neoclassical style country house located in La Bachellerie, near

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

in the

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; ) is a large rural departments of France, department in south west France, with its Prefectures in France, prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. It was built between 1789 and 1817 to designs by the architect Mathurin Salat (1755–1822), sometimes called "Blanchard". The house was built of

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

by the Marquis de Rastignac.

History

Construction of the château was delayed by disruptions from the French Revolution and

Napoleonic wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. When completed, the house was decorated in the French Empire style. In 1944, fleeing

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

Schutzstaffel The ''Schutzstaffel'' (; ; SS; also stylised with SS runes as ''ᛋᛋ'') was a major paramilitary organisation under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe during World War II. It beg ...

(SS) forces attempted to destroy the Château de Rastignac in retribution against the

French Resistance The French Resistance ( ) was a collection of groups that fought the German military administration in occupied France during World War II, Nazi occupation and the Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy#France, collaborationist Vic ...

.Lynn H. Nicholas. ''The Rape of Europa: The Fate of Europe's Treasures in the Third Reich and the Second World War'' (New York: Vintage, 1995), pp. 285-86. Using

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

as an accelerant, the fire burned for five days. Only the exterior limestone shell survived. After eight years the structure was stabilized and a roof placed overhead for protection. The semi-circular Ionic portico of the Château de Rastignac is frequently compared with Maison carrée d'Arlac and the South Portico of the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

, and there have been speculations about the possible influences of one house on the other. The first official

guide, published in 1962, suggested a link between Hoban's design for the South Portico and Château de Rastignac. Though

James Hoban James Hoban (1755 – December 8, 1831) was an Irish architect, best known for designing the White House in Washington D.C. Early life and education Hoban was born to Edmond and Martha (née Beaghan) Hoban in 1755, and raised a Roman Cathol ...

, the original White House architect, did not visit the region, the third American president,

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

(who had conducted architectural revisions of the White House) did visit the region and met architect Salat earlier, while serving as United States ambassador to France. Supporters of a connection posit that

, during his tour of

in 1789, viewed Salat's architectural drawings (which were on-file at the College) at the

École Spéciale d'Architecture The École spéciale d'architecture (ÉSA; formerly École centrale d'architecture) is a private school for architecture at 254, boulevard Raspail in Paris, France. The diploma from the École spéciale d'architecture (DESA), recognized by the St ...

(Bordeaux Architectural College). They further speculate, without proof, that on his return to the U.S. Jefferson may have shared the idea with Washington, Hoban, Monroe, and Benjamin Henry Latrobe. Reconstruction of the château's interior spaces was completed in 2003 and it is now divided into seven residential apartments (five for the main building, and two for the former coach house).

References

External links

Structurae: Château de Rastignac

* https://www.sudouest.fr/2016/11/08/en-images-decouvrez-la-maison-blanche-en-perigord-2560494-1980.php * http://la-bachellerie.over-blog.com/article-chateau-de-rastignac-112189962.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Rastignac, Chateau de Châteaux in Dordogne Neoclassical architecture in France Chateau De Rastignac Monuments historiques of Dordogne

History

References

Further reading

External links