Château de Purnon

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Château de Purnon is a Neoclassical French château located in the commune of Verrue in the department of Vienne,^[1] south of the Loire Valley in France. The château was constructed between 1779 and 1788 (1788) or between 1772 and 1791^[2] for Antoine-Charles Achard, Marquis de la Haye^[3] (1737–1816), Colonel in the King Louis XVI's armies between 1771 and 1785,^[4] from material reclaimed from the ruins of the nearby Château de Brisay.^[5]

The architect has been identified as Laurent Bourgeois (1728–1808), in the 2020s.^[6] 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."^[7]

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. A grand allée, constructed between 1788 and 1813,^[8] 3 km (1.9 mi) in length, traverses the Forêt de Scévolles from the north of the domain, set over 24 hectares of parkland.^[9][10]

The western outbuilding is 60 metres long and houses the chapel, the stables and tack room. The mirroring, opposite eastern outbuilding houses the château laundry and boulangerie. The early 19th century orangery is situated to west of the main building.^[11] In the pure Neoclassical style characteristic of the late 18th century, the building and its outbuildings are characterized by rectilinear forms and symmetrical rigor. This aesthetic contrasts with English landscape garden park.^[10]

The château was owned in 18th century by Édouard Achard de La Haye, chevalier de l'Ordre souverain de Malte (1778–1844).^[3] After him Purnon was owned by de Goyon family from the middle of 18th century.^[12]

In 1893,^[13] or in 1876^[14] Purnon was purchased by Daniel Jérôme Robineau de Rochequairie, Marquis de Rochequairie (1856–1919).^[15] He notably had a Éolienne Bollée wind turbine installed, a completely innovative system for the time, which allowed the vegetable garden to be irrigated using a wind pump. After his death in 1919, the château slowly fell into ruin for several years.^[10] His descendants are Pierre Robineau, Marquis de Rochequairie (1892–1969), Gilles Robineau, Marquis de Rochequairie (1922–2013) and his son, Pierre Robineau de Rochequairie.^[13] Purnon Estate Operating Company; a private law company was formed in 1982 between Marquis Gilles Robineau de Rochequairie, his nephew Jean-Pierre Robineau de Rochequairie and his sister-in-law Elisabeth Robineau de Rochequairie.^[16][14]

The château and the two main outbuildings, the dry moat, the terraces and the northern entrance gate were all classified as Historical Monuments on 10 May 1995.^[17] The Moulin Bijard, the potager garden and pavilion, the rare Éolienne Bollée (unusual wind turbine) from 1900 and its reservoir were listed as Historic Monuments on 11 December 1992.^[17]

In 2020, former Australian politician Tim Holding and his fiancée Felicity Selkirk acquired the château, in a very bad condition after one hundred years of neglect, for €740,000 from the 11 inheritors of the family of de Rochequairie and initiated a comprehensive restoration of the estate.^{[19][20][21][22][23]}

The very first things to be tackled was preventing the further water damage. The northern courtyard and terrace flooded during the rain, due to the breaking and blockage of the 19th century cast iron drainage pipes. However, the much deeper situated 18th century clay drainage pipe system, proved to be in good condition with minimal blockage, during the excavation and inspection performed in 2025.^[24]

The Direction régionale des Affaires culturelles of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region entrusted the project management of the restoration work to Frédéric Didier, chief architect of historical monuments and chief architect of the Palace of Versailles.^[2]

In 2022 Château de Purnon was awarded the Mission Bern, a national award created in 2018 to support the protection of important French heritage.^[22]

By March 2026 the entire roof of the main building with the charpente roof-frame (the 19th century tin gutter was removed, and all zinc pipes replaced with copper ones) and 47,000 hand cut slate shingles, finial balls and busts of the king Henry IV and Louis XV, the facades and the shutters, the bridge leading over to moat to the main entrance, the western dry moat (former kitchen yard and its auxiliary vaulted spaces in the surrounding wall) and 11 rooms (mostly new bathrooms with completely new plumbing and electrical wiring) on the second floor, of the total 105 rooms of the entire château, have been restored.^[11][25] Also the tiled roof and the roof-frame of the chai (wine barrel room), its stonework and tiled facade have been restored.^[26] The principal reception rooms and entrance vestibule on the first floor and the eastern dry moat, will be restored next, starting in February 2026.^[11]

• Château de Purnon - Official Homepage
• Château de Purnon - French Heritage Society Restoration Project

46°52′14″N 0°10′50″E / 46.87046°N 0.18053°E / 46.87046; 0.18053