Château de Purnon

Château de Purnon is a neoclassical 18th-century château located in the commune of Verrue in the department of Vienne, south of the Loire Valley in France.

The château was constructed between 1779 and 1788 or between 1772 and 1791 for Antoine-Charles Achard, Marquis de la Haye (1737–1816), Colonel in the King Louis XVI's armies between 1771 and 1785, and his wife, Marquise Beninge Modeste de la Motte-Barace (1741–?), from material reclaimed from the ruins of the nearby Château de Brisay.

The architect has been identified as Laurent Bourgeois (1728–1808), in the 2020s, from the original drawings found in the château archives in 2021. In his diagnostic study of October 2020, architect Frédéric Didier wrote: "The Château de Purnon, whose architect remains a mystery, if indeed 'Bourgeois,' an architect in Tours— about whom we know nothing — who signed the elevations in 1781, was the designer and not merely the project manager."

Constructed during the reign of Louis XVI, the château was completed just prior to the commencement of the French Revolution. The château is made of tuffeau stone and covered with ochre plaster, flanked by two large outbuildings, all featuring rare charpente (roof framework) in the style of Philibert de l'Orme. According to architect Frédéric Didier, it is the largest existing example of this style, still intact. A grand allée, constructed between 1788 and 1813, 3 km (1.9 mi) in length, traverses the Forêt de Scévolles from the north of the domain, set over 24 hectares of parkland.

The western outbuilding is 60 metres long and houses a chapel, stables and tack room. The mirroring, opposite eastern outbuilding houses the château laundry and boulangerie. The early 19th century orangery is situated west of the main building. In the pure Neoclassical style characteristic of the late 18th century, the building and its outbuildings are characterized by rectilinear forms and symmetrical rigour. This aesthetic contrasts with English landscape garden park. Also, it has been discovered in 2024, by landscape architect Ian Barker, that in late 18th / early 19th century a vast, formal jardin á la française was laid out to west of the château.

The château was owned in 18th century by Édouard Achard de la Haye, chevalier de l'Ordre souverain de Malte and the mayor of Verrue (1778–1844).

Text adapted from “Château de Purnon” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Château de Purnon ranks #3,401 of 8,764 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #263 of the 675 mapped in France. Founded 1779, it is older than 15% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 638 atlas entries founded in the 18th century. Its Wikipedia articles were opened 13,914 times in the last 60 days, more than 96% of the atlas. 1 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. The nearest day-trip guide is Tours, 70 km away. See how France compares in the castle statistics.

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