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Origin and history

Lasbordes Manor House, also known as Lasbordes Castle, is an estate in Albi, Tarn, Occitania. Built mainly in the 17th century in brick, it was the residence of the d'Aussaguel family, anobligated over generations. The site replaces an old farmhouse named Pruines, cited in 1563 as property of the chapter of the Cathedral of St. Cécile of Albi. Passed by inheritance and successive gifts, the land passes to the Barassy, then to the Parayres, before being acquired by the d'Aussaguel, who raise there the present mansion towards the end of the seventeenth century.

The estate is inseparable from the pastel industry, a dye flower that enriched the region between the 15th and 17th centuries. A mill and a pastel dryer, still visible, operate there until the 19th century – the grinding wheels were repaired in 1860. The manor house, partially renovated in the 18th and 19th centuries (enlargement of the wings around 1820), preserves remarkable architectural elements: semicircular pediment, belvedere-loggia, balustrade staircase inspired by the Berbie Palace, and monumental chimneys. The family of Lasbordes, born of the d'Aussaguel, lost its leader, Hector Bruno, guillotined under the Terror in 1794.

Ranked a historic monument in 1979 for its facades, roofs, dovecotes, staircase and pastel dryer, the mansion illustrates the alliance between aristocratic heritage and industrial heritage. Today, it is a public property, home to the golf club of Albi. The site also includes a farm, a farmhouse, a cistern, and two dovecotes, all in red brick typical of Albigeois. The mill's dormant mill, with its 17-ray flow, and the granite rotating mill (reused on the threshold) testify to its manufacturing past.

The architecture of the mansion, in a U-shaped plan with a nine-span housing body, reflects the transformations undergone over the centuries. The sled windows, remodeled in the 19th century, and the wings sheltering stables and restored dates back in part to 1820. The estate thus embodies the evolution of a medieval farm in seigneurial residence, then in place dedicated to contemporary leisure, while preserving rare traces of the pastel's golden age.

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