Château de Saint-Pons

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Ministère de la Culture, in French. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Ministère de la Culture; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

History

The historical site of Saint-Pons was initially a single domain consisting of two dwellings at Saint-Pons connected by a bridge. They were built around the road from Marseille to Eguilles which made it possible to reach the royal road without passing through Aix. This distinctive feature motivated the establishment of a toll attested from the beginning of the 14th century. The toll was intimately linked to the seigneury of Saint-Pons. It belonged to Melchion de Bourdon, lord of the place, from 1561 onwards. In the 17th century, the procurators of the region chose Saint-Pons on several occasions as a meeting point with high dignitaries (cardinal Chigi, Duke of Vendôme and cardinal de Forbin-Janson). This vast domain formed a single ensemble until the beginning of the 18th century, when it was divided in two. While a château doubtless existed from the 16th century, the present building was constructed by the Escalis family at the beginning of the 17th century. This family included several notable personalities such as Marc-Antoine or his son Sextius who founded the branch of the Escalis de Sabran, lords of Ansouis. The construction work on the château began with Marc-Antoine d'Escalis between 1600 and 1620. The château, marked by the military preoccupations characteristic of this period following the Wars of Religion (imposing and blind rusticated base sloping outward, defensive tower), comprises three storeys built on a terrace created to compensate for the East-West slope. The central block is flanked by two wings in return whose East and West ends form pavilions. To the North, a courtyard marks the main entrance of the building. A tower (destroyed) stood at the South-West corner of the château. The decorations of the façade draw from the vocabulary of French 16th-century architecture. The rusticated surface as well as the picked rustication on the elevations assert the rustic character of the composition. Claire d'Escalis inherited the domain and had the plasterwork decorations of the staircase cage executed in the 1630s. Like other contemporary realizations, the ramp-on-ramp staircase constitutes the principal ornament of the château. Its plasterwork decoration combines the picturesque with vegetative and naturalistic motifs. It fits within the transition that took place at the time between the delicacy of Mannerist decorations and the baroque ostentation of relief elements. In the 1710s, the château was ceded to the d'Antoine family who provided several counsellors to the parliament of Provence. It is likely that this family was responsible for the modernization of the layout and perhaps the remodelling of the façades. The openings are provided with segmental arches and the main façade was recomposed. The noble storey was modified and then furnished with decorations characteristic of the period (plasterwork, painted overdoors with picturesque subjects, chimneys in breccia). From this same period probably dates the layout of the second storey intended for the château's staff and served by a corridor. In 1757, the property was sold to Jean-François Jaubert whose son was a counsellor at the court of accounts. It remained within the family until 1878, when Maxence Jaubert was expelled. The financial difficulties of the last owner may have been at the origin of the collapse of the West wing which was noted when the property changed hands. The following owner, Augustin Couest was the driving force behind the reconstruction of the West wing (between 1878 and 1885). This construction was designed independently of the main body of the château since practically no access was provided to connect the West wing with the rest of the château except via the corbelled gallery. The end of the century was marked by several successive owners before Jean Bussière repurchased the château in 1913. He was doubtless responsible for the imposing veranda attached to the South façade. At his death in 1937, Jean Diéppedalle inherited the property. The war years were marked by German occupation of the château between 1943 and 1944. An anti-aircraft gun was built on the roof. In 1954, Gaston Diéppedalle sold the domain to Alexandre and Marie Hautot. They converted the West wing into a hotel. This hotel activity ceased in the 1990s.