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Origin and history

Sauvebeuf Castle, located in Aubas, Dordogne, has its origins in the 17th century, although a first building, attested as early as 1365 under the name Hospitium de Sauvebuo, was erected by the Ferrières family. This original castle, renovated in 1600 in Renaissance style by Jehan III de Ferrières, was destroyed in 1633 by order of Richelieu, in punishment of a duel involving its owner. Thanks to the intervention of Mary of Highfort with Louis XIII, it was rebuilt between 1636 and 1637 by Charles-Antoine de Ferrières, Marquis de Sauvebouf, possibly according to the plans of architect Nicolas Rambourg, known for his work at the Château de Hautefort. The new castle adopted a style close to the Palais du Luxembourg, with an elongated house body framed by pavilions.

In the 18th century, the estate passed into the hands of Victor Riqueti de Mirabeau, father of the famous revolutionary, after his marriage to Marie Geneviève de Vassan, widow of the Marquis de Sauvebeuf. The revolutionary future stayed there during his youth and was exiled there. Two buildings disappeared at that time: a stable destroyed by the Mirabeaus, and a south wing later destroyed by the Chassagnac family. The castle underwent extensive restorations at the end of the 19th century under the ownership of the Oberkampf family (1891-1927), before becoming a farm until 1975, then being abandoned.

The castle, purchased in 1987 by the advertising company Claude Douce, was partially listed as a historical monument on July 2nd of the same year, and then entirely on October 9th, 2009. Soft began its restoration and opened to the public in 2013, setting up a private museum with a rich collection of prehistoric objects. The site preserves remarkable elements such as the original frame, an honour staircase, a pigeon tree, and paintings by Philippe de Champaigne. Its name, Sauvebeuf, could come from saouvestus ("isolated, desert") and bos ("wood"), evoking a wooded and unsafe place.

The castle is also linked to a local legend: at the time of the Crusades, Alice, daughter of the chestnut, drowned in the Vézère for love for the Sir of Losse, who died in battle. His ghost haunted from the edge of the castle. Architecturally, the site now consists of a house and northern pavilions, an eastern outbuilding in square, and an isolated pavilion in the southwest. Two of the four fountains of the seventeenth century, symbolizing the elements, remain partially: one was moved to Lot-et-Garonne, the other integrated into a balustrade.

The protections under the title of historical monuments cover facades, roofs, frame, honorary staircase, fence of the courtyard, and the dovecote. The castle, a private property, remains a testament to the architectural transformations and historical vicissitudes of the Périgord, from the Renaissance to the present day.

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