Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château de Mouillepied, located in Port-d'Envaux in Charente-Maritime, was mentioned in 1638 as property of Charles Baudouin, an assessor in the county of Taillebourg. The seigneury then passed to his son Jehan, a lawyer at the presidial of Saintes, then to his nephews Charles and Paul Guillon, also a lawyer. In 1710 he challenged an auction of the estate, initially sold in 1707 to Bernard Gallocheau, royal notary, before being bought by Valentin Compagnon, master baker of Saintes.

In 1752 François-Guillaume Clairain des Lauriers, chief engineer of the Rochefort arsenal, acquired the estate for 40,000 pounds. He did important work there, adding terraced gardens and water. When he died in 1781, his widow Marie-Perrine Rivoal inherited the castle, which then passed to their nephew Jean-Marie Rivoal in 1789. The property, estimated at 76,000 pounds, was eventually divided among his four daughters in 1815, before being sold to Benjamin Berton.

The estate is listed as a natural site on June 11, 1986, recognizing its architectural and landscape heritage. Its history reflects family transmissions, legal conflicts and transformations related to influential local personalities, particularly in the region's military and judicial circles.

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