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Origin and history

The castle of Buzay, located in La Jarne in Charente-Maritime, was built between 1771 and 1776 for Pierre-Étienne Harouard du Beignon, lieutenant of the Admiralty of La Rochelle. The latter, also a lawyer in the Paris Parliament and a shipowner, had a "house of fields" built on the plans of the Parisian architect Nicolas Ducret, co-conceptor of the cathedral of La Rochelle. The Louis XVI style of the castle is distinguished by its facade centered by a triangular pediment pavilion supported by four ionic columns, and a slate roof with various attices.

The Buzay seigneury originally belonged to the Barbot family, notably Amos Barbot de Buzay. In 1687, it was acquired by Pierre Harouard, a shipowner from Rochelais, and then transmitted to his son Étienne-Henri Harouard du Beignon. The latter, also involved in the slave trade, left the estate to his son Pierre-Étienne, who sponsored the castle. At the end of the 18th century, Pierre-Étienne's daughter brought Buzay as a dowry to Étienne Pierre Chérade, Count of Montbron, whose family had retained the castle since then.

The park and gardens, designed in the spirit of the Treaty La Théorie and the practice of gardening in Dézallier d'Argenville, feature box embroidery inspired by Villandry, geometric aisles, and a perspective of 750 meters lined with pines. The chapel, of Louis XV style, and the outbuildings complete the whole, classified as Historical Monument in 2004. Interior decorations, panelling and floral sculptures were preserved, while grey paintings were added in the 19th century.

The castle illustrates the influence of the Parisian mansions of the Louis XVI period, with its ionic peristyle and French roofs. Apart from the disappearance of a dovecote, the whole has retained its original dispositions. In the 19th century, pigs were added to agricultural buildings, and the logis du Bois Not was brought together in the estate. Today, the castle remains a private property, open to visit from July to September.

The history of the castle is linked to the economic boom of La Rochelle in the eighteenth century, marked by the maritime trade and armament. The Harouards, the family of shipowners, embody this prosperity, while the Chérade de Montbron, anoblised in the seventeenth century, perpetuates its heritage. The site, with its hemicycle and its driveway through the Ranclos plot, bears witness to the art of French gardens and neoclassical architecture.

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