Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château d'Épanvilliers, located in Brux in Vienna, finds its origins in the 15th century with a tower of housing integrated into the building at the beginning of the 16th century. It was built around 1530 by the brothers Jacques and André Montalembert d'Essé, who were heavily indebted for its realization, as evidenced by a document of 1541. This castle, of Louis XIV style after its renovation, passed into the hands of the Tryon in the 18th century by inheritance via Gabrielle Montalembert, wife of Pierre Tryon.

In the 18th century, the Marquis de Tryon established an educational farm, one of the first of the Poitou, welcoming up to 50 farmers whose activities are recorded in detailed records. Around 1775, the Marquise de Tryon undertook an interior overhaul and built gardens. The castle, which preserved decorative elements of the eighteenth century (like a wrought iron staircase), was partially destroyed by fire in 1991 (south wing of the communes), then restored.

Ranked a historic monument in 1980 (castle, moat, gate, chapel, staircase and interior rooms) and in 1997 (southern communes), the castle changed hands in the 20th century. Purchased in 1974 by Jean-Robert Lorzil (instructor), it was restored and opened to the public before being sold in 1995 to Berchtold Rordorf, who installed a museum of the old game in 2012. Today, it visits the summer and bears witness to five centuries of architectural and agricultural history.

The building retains two pavilions, two wings (including a chapel with missing decorations), and more than 20 rooms furnished from the 18th century. Its architecture combines Renaissance heritage (round the 15th century) and sober classicism of the 1770–82s, period of partial reconstruction by the Tryon. The archives also mention its role in local agricultural innovation, with a model farm starting in the 18th century.

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