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Origin and history

Nanchapt Manor House, also known as Roumailhac Manor House, Merigat Hotel or Roumailhac Castle, is a Renaissance mansion located in La Tour-Blanche-Cercles, Dordogne (New Aquitaine). Located in the centre of the village, near the old hall and the Place du Marché-Dieu, it consists of two perpendicular houses connected by an octagonal tower housing a spiral staircase. Its facades and roofs, adorned with animal sculptures and sills, have been protected since 1948. The construction, begun in the 16th century, was completed in 1617 under Louis Mérigat, seigneur of Beaulieu.

The building bears the traces of its successive owners: hotel Merigat in the 17th century, then mansion of Nanchapt after the marriage of an heiress with a lord of that name. In the 19th century, it was acquired by the Roumailhac family, which gave it its present name. Originally, a chapel at the North House (transformed into a 20th century dwelling) and a low arched gallery closed the inner courtyard. The remarkable elements include a door carved in accolade (XVI century), animal gargoyles, and a skylight dated 1617.

Ranked a historic monument for its facades and roofs, the mansion illustrates Renaissance civil architecture in Périgord. Property shared between the municipality and an individual, it combines residential and symbolic functions, reflecting the prestige of its occupants — king's councillors, local or bourgeois lords. Its present state has kept few changes since 1617, with the exception of the converted chapel and minor restorations.

The sources also mention its historic name as a "House of the Market God", linked to its proximity to the medieval hall. No major transformation is attested between the 17th and 19th centuries, preserving its original character. Today, the mansion remains a rare testimony of perigord aristocratic habitat, between rural mansion and urban hotel.

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