Name -
Chateau de la Mercerie
Location -
Magnac-Lavalette-Villars
Department -
Charente 16
State -
Abandoned Chateau
The Chateau de la Mercerie, small Charente-native Versailles or the insane dream of the Rethore brothers, are located in the middle of the department of the Charente, approximately 20 kilometers to the south of Angouleme in the commune of Magnac-Lavalette-Villars.
Click for the Back in Time Article
Here we are again at one of the most wonderful chateau's in the Haute-Vienne, the following pictures are from 2 visits in 2012. Our first visit at the beginning of the year and the second time as the first paying visitors as the local mairie as semi-secured the chateau future and appears to be just in time as roofs and ceiling start to crumble.
Thanks to the generosity of an uncle, Raymond and Alphonse Rethore settle into the Chateau de la Mercerie in 1924 in the small manor of the XIXth century located at the extreme left of the frontage of the current building.
In the Thirties, the two brothers undertake the enlarging of the chateau under the direction of Alphonse who gives up his studies of medicine to devote himself to architecture.
In 1932, Raymond becomes mayor of Magnac, and re-elected in 1958 to 1978, he passes then under the banner 'gaullist'. Friend of the general (he was used as a interpreter with Russia) the deputy carries out a life of a unrepentant traveller.
During the years of records, the construction of the building and the accumulation of treasures, such as paintings of Italian masters, marbles, woodworks and sculptors, the chateau became the principal occupation of the two brothers.
In 1970, work is stopped. In 1982, a proposal of legacy to the National Assembly is refused. Even for the Town of Angouleme, which inherits however five thousand volumes of the library of Rethore. In 1983, Alphonse dies, then Raymond in 1986. Three million postponed towards the tax department, threatens of executory seizure, nightmarish death taxes: an auction is organized by Bernard Charennac, sole legatee; it takes place in 1987. Since 1988, the Chateau de la Mercerie is the property of Mr. Bernard Steinitz, a Parisian antique dealer in the Saint-Honore suburb. he also has a workshop of restoration in Saint-Ouen (inventory of interior decorations of the XVIIth and XVIIIth centuries).
In 2012, the chateau opens it doors to visitors for the first time as the mairie gets a 75 year lease on the chateau in exchange for carrying out the necessary works need to restore the chateau for later generations to enjoy, we were the very first paying visitors and its a magnificent sight to be able to see the building fresh before any work has begun and maybe visit again in a few years as the restoration continues.
please note that the chateau is only visit-able by appointment only (big dogs keep guard the rest of the time), see the website for more information.
www.chateaudelamercerie.fr
