Castle Toulouse (31)
A listed medieval castle on the outskirts of a Lauragais village, surrounded by 12 hectares of woods and meadows. The impressive fortified building is surrounded by pastures and groves of trees, as well as landscaped parklands created at the end of the 19th century. A large driveway separates the estate from a local road, with outbuildings - a shed, workshop and caretaker's lodging - just a few metres away. To the west of the castle, there remain the converted servants quarters and working buildings, as well as a 17th century dovecote built on piers, situated on the southern slope of the plateau. Both stylistically and structurally, the castle, which should be described as a 'feudal fortified mansion', appears to date from the reign of Charles VIII or Louis XII, although it was built in 1539. It consists of an elongated rectangular main building with two parallel sets of rooms, more than 27m long and 18m wide. Each corner of the main building features round towers with an external diameter of around 7.5 m, enough to cover the facades. They have arrowslits on each level, facing the entrance door and the southern curtain wall. The roof of the central section is clad with flat tiles featuring square or rounded ends. Some of the tiles are fixed with nails. The roofs of the two front towers are clad exclusively with rounded tiles. The roof of the south-west tower has retained its sealed monk-and-nun tile ribs, while the south-east tower, whose timberwork and roof were restored in the early 20th century, now features a conical pepperpot roof. The walls, with their regularly dressed calcareous sandstone, have an average thickness of almost 1.5 metres. The castle was listed as a historic monument in 1972, with heritage protection afforded to its facades and its high hip roof, crowning an impressive loft.
… $2,936,000
By Patrice Besse
