Château de Chasselas

History

In the early 13th century the land belonged to the Chasselas family. The du Roux family held it from the 15th century, and its last heiress, Judith du Roux, married first a Protestant beheaded for banditry at Trévoux and then Philibert de Bellecombe, lord of Vinzelles. In 1629 her son Jacques and his wife died of the plague, and in 1654 their son Claude was murdered.

The Bellecombe family sold the run-down château in 1706, and it then passed through several indebted owners. In 1774 it went to a creditor, Étienne Cellard d'Estours. His son could not prevent the looting of 1789 and the demolition of one tower, but he kept the rest. In 1971 the Reme family bought the abandoned château and devoted great energy to restoring it.

Architecture

Buildings surround a rectangular courtyard entered from the north through a narrow passage between outbuildings. The 16th-century lodging stands to the east, with a round tower nearby at the corner of the kitchen garden. Another tower guards the north-west corner, linked to a third by farm buildings. The main house on the south dates from the late 18th century, with a central block between two wings.