Château Lambert

English translation

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History

It was a certain Jacques Lambert (1697-1775) who had the residence built in the middle of the 18th century. A bourgeois of Lyon, he became administrator of the Hôtel Dieu in 1738 and alderman of the city of Lyon in 1756-1757. His son, Joseph Henri Lambert, receives the domain for his wedding in 1775. He was executed in 1793 for sympathy with émigrés; it is one of his daughters, Amélie-Jeanne-Hélène Lambert (1775-1851), who inherits the castle. In 1803, she marries Louis Joseph Augustin Lacour; they will have three daughters. Very pious, they do not marry and they have a chapel built at the castle in 1860. Without descendants, they donate the castle in 1863 to the Congregation of the Sisters of the Child Jesus of Claveisolles who employ the main dwelling as a boarding school for children and young girls. Forced to cease their activity in 1906, the sisters are subsequently expelled; the castle is sold at auction. The property then serves as a secondary residence for private individuals during the 20th century. In 1970, vines replace the orchard in the south-east part of the garden. The 19th-century chapel has lost its decoration.

Description

Château Lambert is a former country house that combines a bourgeois dwelling with a wine-growing operation. Of rectangular plan, the enclosure of the domain overlooks the village from the hillside. The residence which develops towards the south-east on a rectangular plan is backed onto a complex of rural buildings on the west side. The wine-vat of 38 m/l with a basket-handle vault possesses a small spring; it is surmounted by a former hayloft. In the south-west corner of this same building remain traces of former stables and a small cowshed. In the northern part of the main dwelling, a chapel was built; the decoration has been repainted. The main dwelling forming a long rectangular plan oriented north-east/south-west overlooks a very simple regular garden. Outbuildings or the former lodge of the keeper run along the chemin des Michelons. The main façade on the garden is visible from the arrival from Lyon; it develops over three bays, framed by two buildings of two bays each and covered by mansard roofs. At the centre of the composition, a slight advanced section enhances the central entrance bay, a bay surmounted by a small triangular pediment where a statue of the Virgin was placed. Inside, the grand staircase provides access to three rooms in enfilade on each side. To the north, the enfilade leads to the chapel built at the boundary of the enclosure. On the first floor, the configuration was identical to the ground floor originally; a building of outbuildings, attached to the main dwelling, has been partially opened to add a few living spaces perhaps as early as the 19th century. The north-west courtyard had a gateway, then an elaborate entrance which gives access to the main dwelling by the garden. An entrance for the domestic staff was found at the rear of the main dwelling from the courtyard also. The courtyard is surrounded by entrances and access to the other outbuildings and the wine-vat. The castle is enclosed by a wall of stone and rammed earth which has been rebuilt in certain places. The wine-growing operation is maintained even though the processing of grapes is no longer done at the domain but in a cooperative cellar.