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Origin and history

The house of Bouchereau, also called Bourg-Charreau, is located in Macqueville, Charente-Maritime. As early as the 12th or 13th century, it would have housed an important castle with Roman dungeon, although the seigneury was not attested until 1419. The site, probably ruined during the Hundred Years War, preserves defensive elements such as geminied bays and murderers, as well as a broken cradle vault in its western part, vestige of the original dungeon.

At the turn of the 17th century (circa 1598), the house was redesigned: two cylindrical scallops with pepper roofs were added to the southern facade, while rectangular bays and a classic door (pilasters and entably) pierced the walls later. The interior reveals a dichotomy between the western half, of medieval origin, and the eastern part, rebuilt in the seventeenth-XVIII centuries. A 17th century decor remains on the floor: carved chimneys with painted landscapes on the hazes, and panelling with geometrical motifs (losanges, diamond tips).

The ancient structure of the western part, with its cut edged wood and curved legs, bears witness to medieval techniques. The estate is organized around a quadrangular courtyard, surrounded by late commons and accessible by a portal dated 1791. The 19th century cellars today mask the northern facade. The house, including its interior decoration, is inscribed in the historical monuments by order of 14 April 1997.

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