Initial construction XVe siècle (≈ 1550)
Main body and first built defenses.
Début XVIIe siècle
Major renovations
Major renovations Début XVIIe siècle (≈ 1704)
North wing and quadrangular tower added.
1832
Tax amendment
Tax amendment 1832 (≈ 1832)
Eight openings imposed before division.
1846
Housing Division
Housing Division 1846 (≈ 1846)
Sharing in two and adding outside staircase.
2 mars 1993
MH classification
MH classification 2 mars 1993 (≈ 1993)
Registration of the old parts of the house.
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui
Aujourd'hui Aujourd'hui (≈ 2025)
Position de référence.
Heritage classified
Logis (Case D 41): entry by order of 2 March 1993
Key figures
Information non disponible - Lords of Brieuil (XVth-17th)
Owners not named in sources.
Origin and history
Brieuil's house, located in Chenay (Deux-Sèvres), is a mansion dating back to the 15th century, with major changes in the 17th century. The estate, organized around a fortified quadrilateral, preserves traces of its defensive past: ditches, truncated corner tower, and hoarding consoles on the north and west walls. The main body, dated from the 15th to the 16th centuries, was modified at the beginning of the 17th century, while the north wing, with its arcade gallery and square tower accessible by a spiral staircase, was the result of a construction campaign of that time. Inside, the ground floor houses an old window, and the floor retains an unincorporated fireplace, a monolithic stone sink and a vegetable garden, remains of the original domestic amenities.
The seigneury of Brieuil, attested from the end of the 12th century, was only documented from the 15th century, when the present house took shape. The site, once girded with ditches and walls, lost some of its defences (notably the last level of the southeast tower) and suffered divisions in the 19th century: in 1832, the manor house was taxed for eight openings, then divided in two in 1846, when an outside staircase was added. Although very redesigned and "denatured" according to the sources, the whole preserves architectural elements of the 16th and 17th centuries, such as the impost portal adorned with a coat of arms or the arcades of the north gallery.
Ranked a Historical Monument in 1993 (arrested on 2 March), Brieuil's home illustrates the evolution of a seigneurial residence, from a defensive vocation to a more open habitat, marked by the transformations of the 17th and 19th centuries. The commons, the quadrangular tower and the traces of fortification (south side) recall its role in the local feudal landscape, while the interior arrangements (roadway, sink) evoke the daily life of its occupants. The accuracy of its location remains medium (level 6/10), and its official address (79120 Chenay) places it in the former Poitou-Charentes region, now integrated into New Aquitaine.
