Château de l'Esparrou

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

This is a neo-Gothic dwelling built in 1892 for a family of wine-growing proprietors. This building, of complete and representative character, is the work of the Danish architect Viggo Dorph Petersen, who subsequently became the official architect of the Roussillon bourgeoisie. Raised on an English basement reserved for services, the castle is composed of a main body with double depth. The main façade has a central body of three bays of windows, framed by two slightly projecting pavilions, crowned with gables. The two side façades are perfectly symmetrical. The façade overlooking the garden is framed by two towers capped with pointed roofs; the central bay is crowned with a gable. On the ground floor, a covered loggia marked the centre of the composition, subsequently transformed into a glazed winter garden. The south-west tower is open on the top floor which has been arranged as a belvedere loggia. The entrance is made through a central vestibule adorned with canvases painted by Romanian painters Alexis Macedonski (1923) and Grégoire Apostoli (1927). The basement retains the room called the hunters' room, adorned with a fireplace sculpted with a dog at the centre and floral motifs belonging to the Art Nouveau repertoire.