Castle Autun (71)

An 18th century chateau, its outbuilding and its parklands near to Autun in Morvan Regional Nature Park.
In the bocage countryside of Morvan Regional Nature Park, between its wooded hills and the Uchon granite mountain peak, this property is in the French department of Saône-et-Loire, just 10 minutes by car from the heritage town of Autun and 15 minutes from the archaeological site of Bibracte. 6 km from a town with all local shops, primary and secondary schools, a doctor’s surgery as well as a TER train station with links to Dijon and Nevers. Creusot TGV train station, with its 1⅓-hour links to Paris and 45-minute links to Lyon, is 40 minutes from the property. Switzerland is 2½ hours away by road.
Wrought iron gates open on to a straight driveway, leading directly to the chateau and a courtyard delimited by outbuildings. A hedge, on the left-hand side, and a row of trees, on the right-hand side, border the driveway and lead to a house, reflecting typical Burgundy architecture and topped with a roof covered with small Burgundy tiles, standing in the midst of 1.30 ha of parklands, with a swimming pool and a tennis court. The chateau comprises a main building, once a stronghold house contemporary to the 16th century dovecote, enhanced in the 17th and then 18th centuries with two pavilions on either side. In the 19th century, it was extended with a rectangular tower, covered with a crenelated roof-terrace, adjoining the north pavilion. Facing east-west, the chateau looks down on to the parklands in the foreground, with the mountains as a backdrop. The outbuildings, in front of the chateau’s north facade, enclose the courtyard.
The chateauThis chateau spans two levels, under an attic floor and partially above cellars. Its rendered facades are marked by quoins, made of granite taken from local quarries. The roofs, covered with small Burgundy tiles, feature finials and hipped dormers, the sides of which are clad with the chestnut shingle that is typical of the region. An external flight of steps, covered with a hipped roofing framework, goes up in the centre of the west facade, looking out over the parklands, to the first floor. On the right-hand side of this flight of steps, wisteria meets with Virginia Creeper. The openings, with their, solid wood, slatted shutters are enhanced with wooden-framed, large-paned windows. The east facade, the first visitors see, features a crenelated tower, the same height as the chateau, on its left-hand side.
Ground floor
The entrance door, made of nail-studded wooden planks, is in the courtyard. Protected by a canopy covered with flat Burgundy tiles, it has a paved threshold. An entrance corridor provides access to a kitchen-dining room, on the left-hand side, and a boiler room, on the right-hand side. It continues into an adjoining entrance hall, used as a boot room in winter. The kitchen-dining room, with its whitewashed walls, French ceiling and terracotta floor tiles, comprises a vast dressed stone fireplace, housing a wood-burning stove. On the left-hand side, a ceramic-tiled “potager” (a secondary hearth where soups and other previously prepared dishes were cooked on embers) makes it possible to cook vegetables from the garden. The kitchen communicates with the large dining room, overlooking the parklands, with wainscoting, a water supply point in an alcove set in the panelling, and cement floor tiles, made in the local factories in the 19th century. The dining room provides access to a hall area housing the main stairway and to a living room. This through room, illuminated via two sets of French windows opening into the garden, has a large, engaged, Burgundy stone fireplace as well as a wide recess with an old stone sink, topped with a wooden lintel. French ceilings, lime-rendered walls and Comblanchien Burgundy stone floor tiles. The living room leads …