The Château de Brangues

A rich history & a bright future

The chateau sits on 17 hectares of land on the edge of the small village of Brangues, close to the Rhone river near Lyon in France. Once a fortified castle, the property has evolved over centuries from four separate structures that now link harmoniously into a single chateau with two towers. There is also a farmhouse, stables and an orangerie.

Originally built on a rock, the chateau began as a medieval stronghold. .. It sits elevated one hundred metres above the nearby Rhone river, which served as an important natural boundary and communication route. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Rossillon family built a castle on the site of the medieval house, including a tower with two metre thick walls which is still there today. At the end of the 15th century, the Bathernay family built the west wing of the chateau with its hipped tile roof and a smaller tower with a pointed roof and sentry boxes. The feudal castle was enlarged by the Gratet family in the 17th century. First, the Louis XIII facade to the main building was added followed by the north east wing, with its steeply sloped tiled roof, then a final wing was added in the 18th century. In the XIXth century, the Quinsonnas and Virieu families gave the park its current appearance, growing the tree alleys, adding a terrace to the orangerie, building a Palladian style farmhouse and putting up an imposing entrance gate. The famous French poet and playwright Paul Claudel, brother of sculptress Camille Claudel, took ownership of the chateau in 1927. In 1935, after decades living abroad as a diplomat, Paul Claudel retired and spent long summers in the chateau hosting many illustrious guests including Edouard Herriot, Philippe Berthelot, Darius Milhaud, Ida Rubinstein, Queen Elisabeth of Belgium, François Mauriac, Jean-Louis Barrault, Madeleine Renaud and many others. It is still privately owned by the Claudel family. The castle has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1964.