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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Castle of the Tower, located in Neuville-sur-Ain in the department of Ain, is a building of the 4th quarter of the 19th century built on the initiative of Stephen Goujon, doctor and senator of Ain. Designed by architect Tony Ferret, it replaces a 17th-century castle built on the foundations of a medieval strong tower, formerly owned by the Loriol family. The estate, which was listed as historic monuments in 2006, includes the castle, its park, and outbuildings such as the guard and gardener's houses.

The architecture of the castle combines symmetry and dissymmetry, with an ostentatious facade on the village side, evoking a dungeon, and a classic entrance on the park side. The interior decorations, such as the stuccos of the large living room or the woodwork of the library, reflect the bourgeois luxury of the time. The park, partially altered by modern constructions, maintains a north turret, a basin and a classified entrance gate.

The site has an attested medieval history: the Tower of Loriol, mentioned from the 15th century, belonged to the family of Loriol before being sold to the Molan in 1600, then to the Marrons of Meillonnas until the Revolution. The present castle, although nineteenth, perpetuates this heritage by its location and name, linked to this seigneurial lineage.

The interior distribution follows a marked social hierarchy: the main facades were reserved for owners, while the side accesses served domestic servants. The faces of the sons of Stephen Goujon, sculpted in an applique, recall the family character of the command. The monument thus illustrates the evolution of a medieval fief in aristocratic residence, then in bourgeois property.

Registration for historic monuments in 2006 protects the entire estate, with the exception of modern pavilions. The castle remains today a private property, bearing witness to the eclectic architecture of the nineteenth century and the social stratification of its era.

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