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Origin and history

Villargeault Castle, located on a flat plot at L'Accommodation-Sainte-Colombe in Saône-et-Loire, is one of the oldest castles of the Chalonese Bresse. Its history dates back at least to the 14th century, as evidenced by the first mentions of its lords. The castral moth, of oval shape, was originally surrounded by ditches still visible today on three sides. Although most of the medieval buildings have disappeared, the site retains a guardhouse and a brick house covered with slates, built on a rectangular plan with back square pavilions and circular staircase turrets.

Over the centuries, the castle has changed hands several times. As early as 1319, the fief belonged to Jeanne de Tenarre, then passed in 1371 to Guillaume de La Marche, whose son married Flore de Sercey. In the 16th century, he was successively owned by Jacques Arbalste, Jean de Ferriere, and then the Clugny family. In 1655 François de Montet inherited it and preserved it almost a century before Stephen de Ganay, seigneur of Bellefond, acquired it in 1737. In the mid-18th century, the estate was brought in dowry to Charles-Louis de La Rodde by Ganay's daughter. An accidental fire destroyed the castle before the Revolution, and its ruins were razed in the 19th century.

In 1888, a new, more modest castle was built on the site of the early moth. The estate, privately owned, passed into the hands of the Arnoulx family of Pirey in the 20th century, then of the Alex Willms family in 2003. The site, not open to the public, also includes a 17th-century farmhouse in wooden strips. The coat of arms of the families Sercey, Clugny, Ganay and La Rodde, former owners, bear witness to its rich seigneurial past.

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