Château de la Planche dans le Cher

Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de la Planche, located in Grazac (Haute-Loire), finds its origins in the 15th century as a strong house with a tower of stairs. Owned by the Fugy family, he played a military role at the end of the 16th century when Jean de Fugy, commander of the Leagues, set up a garrison there to defend the neighboring priory. The castle was then damaged by religious conflicts. Architectural changes began in the 17th century with the addition of an east wing, the modification of the openings and the replacement of the screw staircase with a stone wall staircase.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, Fugy's sires managed the property of Grazac priory and obtained leases for life. The property changed hands in 1815 by covenant, passing to the Odde du Villard. Marcel Odde du Villard (1789–1860), judge and botanist, created a landscape park dedicated to his research, embellished with rare essences and a piece of water. The 19th century saw the enlargement of the castle with two new buildings in the east and the reconstruction of a stable burned in 1825, while maintaining its rectangular structure in granite and tiles.

The building is distinguished by its massed plan, its stone staircase serving three levels, and its outbuildings organized in common to the west. The park, connected by a cavalier alley to a wood, houses a hexagonal factory (library) and a regular garden to the south, decorated with boxwood and a circular basin. Ranked a historic monument in 2022, the castle illustrates the architectural evolution of a strong house in a seigneurial residence, marked by military, agricultural and scientific functions.

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