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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Château de Villevert, located in the village of Esse in Charente, has its origins in an old 16th century house. In the 19th century, it was deeply transformed and enlarged, becoming the residence of the Counts of Chamborant. Its current architecture blends a body of central houses framed by pavilions and wings, surmounted by a slate roof pierced with pointed openings and a bell tower characteristic of the Second Empire style.

The St. Helena Chapel, erected in 1880 in the park as a tribute to Baroness Helen, illustrates the late 19th-century neo-Byzantine style. Designed by architect Félix Perrin, it is distinguished by its rich interior decoration (paintings, stained glass, mosaics) and its modest one-nave plan, preceded by a narthex. The Western stained glass, inspired by a drawing from 1833, represents the three theological virtues (Faith, Charity, Hope) and allegorical scenes.

The castle preserves traces of its defensive past, including a south-east pavilion crowned with crows and equipped with breechs, possible vestige of an earlier construction. The property, partially classified as a Historical Monument since 1988 for its chapel and decorations, thus reflects several epochs, from the 16th to the 19th century, through its architectural transformations and its aristocratic sponsors.

The building is part of the landscape of the Confolentais, an area marked by a dense castral heritage. Its restoration in the 19th century is part of a broader movement to rehabilitate castles by the French aristocracy, often associated with the addition of private religious elements, as evidenced by the chapel dedicated to the memory of a family member.

Master glassmakers and artisans who contributed to the chapel, such as Duhamel-Marette for stained glass windows, underline the importance of local artistic networks in the realization of these ensembles. The castle, still located at the address "5311 Cht de Villevert" in Esse, remains a representative example of the seigneurial residences renovated under the Second Empire, combining medieval heritage and stylistic innovations.

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