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 In the heart of France, in the region of the Val de Loire so often celebrated by poets, Chateau de Reignac was recently transformed into a four stars hotel. Dating from the 15th century, it was largely extended at the beginning of the 18th by Louis de Barberin, grand father of Marquis de La Fayette. You will find there the echoes of the fabled "douceur de vivre" of the French aristocracy. |
Inside the castle, along the alleys, near the chapel, one walks side by side with the memory of the famous figures who lived there, Jean du Fau, Aymard de Chouppes, Gilbert de Lafayette, Adrienne de Noailles... |
 1) History of the castle
In the 15th century, the Du Fau family, who had just acquired the fiefdom, built a fortified castle. Only the two round towers which frame the façade onto the gardens and the guards room remain from the castle of Jehan du Fau, who was Louis XI's Grand Master of the King's Residence in Loches. Reignac subsequently became the property of Pierre Forget, who was Secretary of State under Henri III and Henri IV, and responsible for drawing up the Edict of Nantes. The castle then became the property of Aymard de Chouppes, Chevalier of the King's Order, King's Counsellor, Lieutenant Generalin his Armies, and childhood friend of Louis XIII. |
 In March 1710, King Louis XIV raised the Baron du Fau to the rank of Marquis de Reignac sur Indre, in order to reward "our dearly beloved friend Louis de Barberin, Knight, Count of Reignac, camp Marshal of our Armies, Commander of our Order of Saint Louis, Commander on our behalf in the Old Brisach government". Louis de Barberin commenced major alteration work to adapt the castle to current tastes: the moat was filled in, a vast formal park and garden were laid out, outhouses were built to the south west and an east wing perpendicular to the house was added. A chapel, dedicated to Saint Louis, was built as an extension to the main body of the house. |
 The chapel's foundation stone was blessed on 30th July 1717, and two years later the chapel's founder was buried there. Marie Marguerite de Rarécourt de la Vallée-Pimodan, Louis de Barberin's wife, commissioned Claude Dubois, a sculptor from Dijon, to carve the sumptuous marble mausoleum in his memory. The general Marquis de Lafayette inherited Reignac when his mother, Marie Julie de la Rivière, Louis de Barberin's great granddaughter came into her inheritance. The marquis and his wife, Adrienne de Noailles, stayed frequently in Reignac until 1792 when the Lafayette family relinquished the castle. In 1861, the Müller family bought Reignac and with the help of Collet, the architect, revamped the property in neo gothic style. |
 At the time, people particularly appreciated the refurbishment of the chapel: "the roof has been entirely redone and topped with an extremely graceful spire, the interior has been painted with an imitation stone effect and the mosaic stained glass is the work of monsieur Lobin". Edouard Müller was the mayor of Reignac from 1873 to 1913 and deputy for the Loches constituency from 1890 to 1893. It was due to him that the little town of Reignac gradually modernized: a station, a post office, a library, a fire station and a new washhouse were all installed. Around 1900, the castle boasted electric lighting generated by its waterwheel on the Indre river. However, in 1911, the Henrotte-Müller bank went bankrupt and the Müller assets were seized. The castle then became the property of the Vibraye-Cheverny family until 1984. |
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