Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Presle came into being in the 15th century with the seigneury owned by Guillaume Lapelin, the Bourbonnais's master of accounts and secretary to the widow of Charles I of Bourbon. The Lapelin family retained the property until the 17th century, when it had the original castle built, accompanied by large commons. These buildings, characteristic of the seigneurial architecture of the period, mark the climax of their influence in the region.

In the 18th century, the estate changed hands and was acquired by Pierre Louis Perron, whose daughter married Simon Cadier, Baron de Veauce. This marriage seals a new era for the Presle, integrating the castle into a wider aristocratic network. The 19th century saw the property move to the Las Cases family, which undertook a radical transformation: in 1887, Jean-Marie Barthélémy de Las Cazes ordered the destruction of the old castle (except for the communes) and ordered the millenian architect Jean-Bélisaire Moreau to a completely new residence, reflecting the tastes of the era.

The current site, fully protected since 2021, includes the reconstructed castle, its pavilions, round towers, commons of origin and a park lined with fences. The remarkable interior elements, such as tapestries, paintings and marquetries, bear witness to the fascist of successive owners. The inscription in the title of the Historical Monuments enshrines the heritage value of this place, where the traces of four centuries of noble and bourgeois history overlap.

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