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There has been a château recorded on this site since 1464, when Jacquette de la Ramée, dame de Bourneau, received royal permission from King Louis XI to build a fortified château at Bourneau. However, all that remains of this ancient château are the four turrets that delimit the moat and the vaulted foundations that the current château is built on. Unfortunately, any records or plans of the original château are lost to history. The current château you see today is in the style of the French Première Renaissance and was built in the second half of the 19th century.
Edmond Möller, a local gentleman who inherited the land at Bourneau through his mother’s family, commissioned the celebrated local architect, Arsène Charier to build the current château in 1863. The edifications were completed between 1869 and 1870. Arsène Charier was inspired by the royal châteaux of the Loire, in particular Azay-le-Rideau and the Château d’Anet. This château’s Renaissance design is unique to this region.
The château takes artistic elements of fortified châteaux rather than having a practical fortification function. The two wings are constructed at right-angles on a square island with four “poivrières” (small turrets) at each corner of the island. The island is surrounded by a moat, filled by water from a natural spring. The south west turret corresponds to the original service staircase, which illustrates the chateau’s strong Renaissance inspiration with the impressions of each step of the spiral staircase on the outer wall of the turret. The initials of Edmond Möller and his wife, Claire de Fontaines, are carved into the edifice in the manner of those found at Chambord by Francois I. The interior of the château, however, is in the simpler style of Napoleon III.
Edmond and Claire Möller’s daughter, Marguerite Möller, married her first cousin, Raymond de Fontaines. They had two children, their only son, also Raymond de Fontaines, was a romantic poet and was killed in the first world war at Thiaumont near Verdun on 1st June 1916 at the age of 25 years. Their surviving daughter, Denise de Fontaines, married Baron Jean de Meyronnet de Saint-Marc but she died without surviving issue before her mother in 1954. On her death in 1956, at the age of 93 years, Marguerite left the Château de Bourneau and the estate to her servant, Agnès. The land was then subdivided and in 1963, Agnès sold the Château to the Foundation Marechal de Lattre de Tassigny, who opened a retirement home for Algerian men and women who fought for France and had lost everything. It was called “Maison Raymond de Fontaines” in memory of Raymond de Fontaines who fell in battle.
In 1967, the out buildings (old stables, barns and bakery) were completely transformed to expand the Foundation’s activity in welcoming refugees from wars in South East Asia, notably Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos, with the aim to repatriate these people into French Society. The Foundation closed in 1997 and in June 1998, the château was bought back into the original family by the great niece of Marguerite de Fontaines. In 2004, they began the enormous task of renovating the château and converting the outhouses into 4 large holiday cottages.
In 2018, it was time for them to pass the baton to the next generation and so the château was sold to us. We are passionate about history and preserving this beautiful local landmark for generations to come. The Château is now a private family home and an events business, hosting weddings, private parties, seminars, retreats and holiday lets.
If you would like to keep updated with what’s on at the château, why not follow us on instagram or facebook @chateaudebourneau or for our behind the scenes restoration, do check out our chateau life account @theintrepidchatelaine.
