Château de Vaux-sous-Targes

History

At the end of the 15th century the Mincé family held a medieval fortress here, flanked by round towers and ringed by moats. By marriage the lordship passed in 1651 to Jacques de La Fage, and his family, later marquis de Saint-Huruge, kept it until the early 19th century. The estate was then bought by a Basque shipowner named Loustaneau, whose wife came from Lyon.

Although the old fortress was still in fair condition, it was razed, and in 1830 a new château rose on its site. The estate was organised like an Italian agricultural villa, with cellars, a 17th-century dovecote and a vat house around the house. It still belongs to descendants of the builder's heirs, and the château was fully classified as a historic monument in 2000.

Architecture

The house has an H-shaped plan with flat roofs, a central block and two wings, and is surrounded by moats on three sides. On the south, a gallery of seven round arches links the wings and carries a balustraded terrace. The interiors show the move from neoclassicism to eclecticism, with painted faux wood and faux marble, Pompeian-style ceilings and fine wallpapers.