The chateau was built at the top of a hill where two valleys meet. It enjoys a commanding position, looking out over the pastures around it. An asphalted country lane leads up to it and carries on as a walking trail through the woods. An asymmetrical four-sided wall encloses the chateau and follows the natural slope on which it lies, bringing together a mix of tile and roof styles. The chateau is made up of two main sections that join each other at a right angle. Machicolations can still be seen on them. Each of these sections is flanked with a square tower instead of a gable end and crowned with roof slopes of flat tiles. Facing the main dwelling is a pedestrian door next to a carriage arch door that stands beneath a keystone marked with the year 1742. This pair of entrances is flanked with a barn, a pig shed and an open-sided shelter. A wall, a storeroom, two bakehouses and a former kitchen complete the complex.

The grand dwelling

The current chateau dates back to the 17th century. A noble home – known to have existed in the early 16th century – once stood on the site. The fief belonged to the Chancel family. The French poet Lagrange-Chancel stayed there many times to draw inspiration.

The studded wooden entrance door in the middle of the main building’s facade is framed with a classical sculpted doorway of two pilasters rising up to volutes and a pediment. Around it are eight wooden-framed windows made up of small single-glazed panes. Dressed stone forms framing around each of them. They are spaced out symmetrically. And there is an extra one above the main door, filling the first-floor landing with natural light. The same symmetrical layout of windows is found on the west face, except for the later addition of a smaller window. This west face is half underground, so its door leading out to the garden is at the same level as the central staircase’s intermediate landing. The timber roof framework has not been changed since the chateau was built. Its high collar beams create room for comfortably spacious developments, almost like a mansard roof would. The old, steep roof has three slopes, including a hipped end at one side of the dwelling. It crowns walls of rubble masonry with rendering that leaves the stonework slightly exposed. Ten gabled dormers fill the loft with natural light. The one above the entrance door stands out for its scroll-ornamented frame and shell-shaped pediment. The square tower that marks the dwelling’s right end juts out a little on both sides. Its hipped roof rises slightly above the rest of the dwelling.

The ground floor
There is a single, central flight of stone stairs. It forms a U-shape and has an intermediate landing that connects to the garden level. The stairs carry on up to the first floor and the loft, thereby offering easy access to the latter. Four large rooms, each featuring a monumental fireplace, are filled with natural light from their dual-aspect position. Three of them have a French-style beamed ceiling. The surface areas of the main rooms vary, but the two living rooms are roughly 95m² and 100m². The flooring alternates between very old limestone slabs, ladder-patterned and strip parquet, original square and hexagonal tomette tiles, and an earthen floor.

In the tower’s ground floor, the main room features a French-style beamed ceiling, a fireplace ornamented with a coat of arms and piers sculpted as columns, and – above all – remarkable rammed earth patterned with five-petalled flowers inscribed in nine circles, like that in the Château de Jumilhac. In the adjoining grand reception room, examinations have revealed that the concrete floor also hides rammed earth. This rammed-earth flooring probably extends over the room’s entire 100m² surface area and may feature a pattern yet to be discovered.

The first floor
The upper floors need to be restored.

The group of buildings
The roofs of the outhouses reflect the architectural style of the main dwelling but they are more varied: the steepness and tile colour changes from annexe to annexe. These outbuildings include a barn, an open-sided shelter, a pig shed, a storeroom, two bakehouses and a former kitchen. They mostly need to be restored.

The parklands
A gentle slope dotted with isolated trees extends from the chateau to the edge of the forest. To the east and south, the chateau looks out at pastureland, which lies in the foreground of a clear vista over the valley.