More than a grand estate, Cheverny Castle (Château de Cheverny) is a family home. Located in a lovely valley along the Loire River in central France, the castle shows what French family life was like in the past.
Once a feudal fortification, the name Cheverny first appeared in a deed in 1315; Jean Hurault, a financier and officer at the service of King Louis X of France, acquired it in the late 14th century. His grandson, Jacques, inherited the property and was given the title Lord of Cheverny (“Seigneur de Cheverny”). While the castle often changed hands over the centuries, it always returned to the Hurault family, who own and run the castle to this day.
A lieutenant general under King Louis XIII and the count of Cheverny in the 17th century, Henri Hurault commissioned a new castle to be built between 1624 and 1630 on top of the old, fortified castle. French architect Jacques Bougier designed the structure in the classical style, which was popular under Louis XIII. The castle’s façade features white stone in a symmetrical design.
The interiors, designed by Henri’s wife, Marguerite, and completed by local craftsmen in 1650, represent the French “art of living” (“art de vivre”). The castle is the “best furnished“ and decorated castle in the Loire Valley; each room features an impressive collection of furniture, tapestries, and paintings handed down over generations.
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Ariane Triebswetter
Author
Ariane Triebswetter is an international freelance journalist, with a background in modern literature and classical music.