The Castle of Chambonas

The Château de Chambonas likely acquired its current form under Henri de la Garde, who lived in the early 17th century. It belongs to the wave of construction that swept the country following the first religious wars, much like Joviac and many other estates. Henri de la Garde acquired various lordships from the de Borne family. He was also a fierce opponent of the Huguenots during the turbulent wars of Louis XIII's reign. The Vivarais soldier recounts in his Commentaries that the town of Les Vans had joined the rebellion of Privas, forcing Monsieur de Chambonas to fortify his castle, located just half a league away, particularly by maintaining a strong garrison there. Although four or five hundred armed men usually emerged from Les Vans—comprising both local inhabitants and stationed companies—they were so well contained by Monsieur de Chambonas that they had enough to occupy themselves locally without venturing elsewhere. He seized their Chabiscol, a fortified house crucial for their mill, which greatly inconvenienced them. He killed many of their best soldiers and, season after season, inflicted heavy damage upon their vineyards.

In September, he invited Monsieur de Vernon to assist him with the grape harvest; their adversaries prepared for it as well, resulting in such fierce skirmishes that several men on both sides were themselves "harvested"... In 1628, he was once again fighting alongside Guillaume de Balazuc in the war against the Duke of Rohan. It was in 1630 that the bridge of Chambonas was finally put back into service. According to Jacques Schnetzler, it has reliably stood ever since.

Antoine de la Garde, Henri's son, successfully acquired the lordship of Chambonas, still from the de Borne family. He also purchased the lordship of Sablières on March 4, 1638, from Jacques du Roure, who had inherited it from the lord of Sablières, Jean de Bourguinhon. It cost him 1,156 livres and 19 sols, bringing with it 40 tenants who paid him in oats, rye, wine, fresh chestnuts, bread, hens, beeswax, and a small amount of coin.

Louis-François, Antoine's son, married Charlotte de la Baume de Suze on August 19, 1629; she was the sister of the Bishop of Viviers. They had two sons: the elder, another Louis-François, received the title of Marquis in 1683 through letters patent from Louis XIV. The younger, Charles-Antoine, born in 1735, served for a long time as a vicar to his uncle, Monseigneur de Suze, then as Bishop of Lodève, coadjutor, and later Bishop of Viviers (1600-1713). By this time, the family had already become one of the most prominent in the region.

This marked the peak of the Chambonas family. It was as coadjutor that Charles-Antoine de Chambonas wrote in 1684 on behalf of the Huguenot inhabitants of Privas, beseeching the king "to allow them to recover from the pitiful state to which they have been reduced, primarily so they may employ their goods and their lives for His Majesty." During this era of intense persecution—when the people of Privas had been expelled from their city for the second time in 1664—this compassionate stance from a high-ranking clergyman is highly noteworthy. It is said that during the time of the "little prophets," he traveled from parish to parish, securing pardons for many peasants. Damville remarked that "this prelate, before these disorders, had worked effectively for the religion in this country, taking the place of the old bishop, his uncle, who due to his advanced age, was unable to act."

Louis-François, the first Marquis of Chambonas, wrote in 1672: "I have my castle with four towers, enclosed by walls, barns, a courtyard, stables, and a dovecote," indicating that the castle had acquired most of its current appearance by that time. Louis-François died without heirs in 1710. Another of his brothers, Henri-Joseph, succeeded him. In 1685, Henri-Joseph had married Charlotte de Fontanges, a lady-in-waiting to the Duchess of Maine. She was eventually implicated in the Cellamare conspiracy of December 1718, and the Marquise de Chambonas notably requested the honor of sharing a few days of her imprisonment.

It was undoubtedly Henri-Joseph who commissioned the famous gardens of Chambonas between 1710 and 1729. It is certain that Le Nôtre, Louis XIV's illustrious gardener, did not oversee their completion, as he passed away in 1700. However, Abbé Charay, while organizing the library's archives, uncovered a Theory and Practice of Gardening attributed to Leblond, a student of Le Nôtre. An anonymous note within suggested that Leblond had designed the gardens of Versailles, the Tuileries, and Chambonas. The actual planting may have occurred much later than the initial sketches; "Nothing is certain, but everything is plausible," the learned abbé prudently concluded.

Henri-Joseph passed away in 1729, succeeded by his son, Scipion-Louis-Joseph. He first married Claire-Marie, Princess of Ligne, on March 19, 1722. After becoming a widower, he married Marie de Grimoard de Beauvoir du Roure, belonging to the powerful du Roure family that had acquired the lordship of Les Vans in the 17th century. Scipion-Louis-Joseph was primarily a military man who resigned his commission in 1746, disappointed at not obtaining the baton of Marshal of France. Albin Mazon attributes the creation of the famous gardens to him, dating them between 1737 and 1742.

He died in 1765, leaving behind a young son from his second marriage, Victor-Louis-Scipion, who would become the final Marquis of Chambonas. According to Mazon, this young man married an illegitimate daughter of the Marquis de Saint-Florentin, the Minister of War. Their highly dramatic separation fueled the gossip chronicles of the era. Although she was reportedly as beautiful as an angel, Merle de Lagorce notes in his Memoirs of a Courtier that the Marquis paid her little attention, preferring instead to have her painted as a monkey, a bear, a hermit, a beggar, an abbé, a nun, and a peasant on the panels of his salon. He himself enjoyed dressing up as a Franciscan friar; alongside his friend, the Duke of Bouillon, he had founded an "Order of Felicity." The two men alternated as grand masters, and initiates wore a green ribbon over their hearts, symbolizing hope. The order's statutes contained the maxims of the most refined gallantry, notes Merle de Lagorce. While this discretion probably deprives us of juicier details, the memorialist explains that the castle was never short of strangers—it was, in fact, more their residence than his. Following the revolt of the Armed Masks in 1783, the four advisors dispatched by the Parliament of Toulouse were lodged at the Château de Chambonas.

Following in La Fayette's footsteps, the Marquis de Chambonas enthusiastically embraced the ideals of the Revolution. He became a camp marshal in the Seine troops in April 1792. Following the resignation of the Girondin ministry on June 13, he was appointed Minister of Foreign Affairs under Louis XVI, pushed into the role by Duport, a prominent leader of the Feuillant party. His ministry lasted barely a month, from June to July 1792. He sought, as much as possible, to shatter the alliance between Vienna and Berlin, and primarily to suspend hostilities. The Girondin leader Brissot accused him of treason on July 8 for failing to report the Prussian advance. He was also accused of illicit arms trafficking with Beaumarchais. He calmly replied that he had not been informed, and just a few days later, the Legislative Assembly declared the Fatherland in danger. He managed current affairs until July 23, then discreetly fled to England.

In England, he found security but not fortune. He borrowed heavily until he was eventually brought before the English courts in 1805, where he was sentenced to a hefty fine and imprisonment. Although he was removed from the list of émigrés as early as 26 Thermidor Year III, it appears he never returned to France. He is believed to have died in poverty in London in 1807. His son, Alphonse de la Garde, principal controller of United Rights in Ambert (Puy-de-Dôme), hastily sold the castle on February 13, 1808, to Charles-François de Chanaleilles, a former knight of the Order of Malta and general director of Domains in Martinique, formalizing the sale before Mr. Postelle, a notary in Paris.

"The château is undoubtedly the most happily and grandly situated seigneurial residence we have in our ancient province. It juts out prominently in the foreground of a painting, framed by the cheerful territories that envelop and encircle the village of Chambonas. Remove the houses that press and constrict it at one point, scatter the air and space around it, give its lovely landscaped garden the grand proportions of one of those immense parks maintained for the lords of the English aristocracy, and you will have one of those privileged homes to which nature and the hand of man have nothing more to add."
Ovide de Valgorge wrote this in 1846, and it must be acknowledged that a century and a half later, there is little to add—except that English gardens bear no resemblance to those of Chambonas... On a map preserved at the château, likely dating from 1808 (the year of Charles de Chanaleilles' purchase), one can see regularly planted terraces of trees, probably mulberries, and triangular lawns, some of which still exist today. The château and the park were perfectly aligned with the bridge, creating a magnificent perspective, though the monumental gate near the Chassezac River is no longer used.

Today, visitors enter the estate from the east, immediately encountering the powerful sandstone escarpment upon which the castle was built. To the northeast stands an annex building, as tall as the castle itself, likely dating from the 18th century, which connects to the main structure via a spiral staircase. The northwest corner of the castle dates back to the Middle Ages, but the majority of the building originates from the 17th century.

The upper terrace is reached via a double-revolution staircase that wraps around a water basin. It is deeply shaded by four venerable plane trees, whose powerful roots break through the ground here and there. Large glazed vases, crafted by Anduze potters in the early 19th century, still stand to the left. Straight ahead lies the monumental fountain, whose water flows through an intricate play of basins and pools across the garden. Above the fountain, a funerary cippus still dominates what must have once been an ancient basin. It seems that many such cippi were once scattered around Chambonas but have since disappeared—lost to either negligence or greed. The archaeological map of Gaul makes no mention of them.

The main façade faces south, gazing out over the garden and the fountains. It is flanked by two round towers, two stories high, elegantly separated by cornices matching the main building. The western tower is topped with brown tiles, while the eastern tower is covered with slates like the other three. Above the central gate, twin watchtowers frame a clock resting on beautiful corbels—undoubtedly a 19th-century addition. The monumental gateway, framed by a triple bossage and crowned by a basket-handle arch bearing the Chanaleilles coat of arms, is one of the most remarkable in the region. Its resemblance to the southwestern door of the Château d'Aubenas is striking. Two recent, yet highly tasteful, wrought-iron torches complete the grand ensemble.

Entering the castle, visitors step into a vast vestibule built on the site of a former inner courtyard. Here rises a magnificent monumental staircase with robust balusters, arguably the finest 17th-century staircase preserved in the region. The furnishings have changed significantly since Abbé Charay described them in 1966: two suits of armor remain, at least one of which appears authentic to the era. While the tapestries have vanished, the magnificent Venetian lantern lighting the space remains. An undatable statue of Étienne Marcel watches the visitor with an enigmatic air.

To the left lies the guard room, vaulted with ribbed arches and furnished in the 16th-century style; it originally served as a tinel, or dining room. Of particular note is a stunning fireplace with a basket-handle arch, flanked by two alcoves. Inside the left alcove is a warming cupboard for dishes, sealed by a heavy stone door. The fireplace plaque bears the image of two bombards, reportedly evoking Marquis Scipion de la Garde's honorary role as camp master when he occupied the castle in the mid-18th century.

To the right, visitors enter a spectacular Italian-style salon, covered with ribbed vaulted ceilings. The wall décor was painted in distemper, reminiscent of the grand salon in the diocese of Viviers. Given that a member of the Chambonas family was the Bishop of Viviers just a few decades before the episcopal palace was built—and that the Chambonas fortune partly financed it—it is highly probable that the same group of artists worked on both. Each wall is dedicated to one of the four elements: Fire, symbolized by a salamander and a fire pot, sits near the fireplace. Earth, featuring an elephant, a dromedary, a horse, and a lion, is on the right. Air, directly opposite, is depicted with an array of birds, while Water is symbolized on the left by fountains, shells, and Neptune's trident. The ceiling celebrates Music, the Arts and Sciences, Hunting, and Agriculture, all enveloped in a lush, colorful floral décor. Sadly, the Louis XV furniture observed by Abbé Charay is no longer there.

At the base of the southeast tower lies a small, vaulted chapel, painted blue with gold stars in a distinctly 19th-century style. The altar appears much older, perhaps dating to the 17th century. Opposite, the Chanaleilles coat of arms is visible once again, positioned above a breathtaking relief portrait of Christ. Abbé Charay boldly attributed this masterpiece to the famous Renaissance goldsmith and sculptor, Benvenuto Cellini (1500-1571). While caution is naturally advised, even if it is merely a copy, the incredible finesse of the features and the noble gentleness of the face undeniably command the deepest admiration.

The adjoining room, currently set up as a billiard room and also vaulted with ribbed arches, connects to the Italian salon through a magnificent 17th-century portal adorned with lush Louis XV floral decorations. The base of the northeast tower serves as a lounge, styled in the same elegant manner. The glazed tile flooring in these two rooms, dating back to the 17th century, is pure splendor. Beyond lies another room, characterized by its beautifully coffered beam ceiling, where visitors can pause to admire a superb faience stove and an exquisite mirror frame whose elegance and grace perfectly encapsulate the civilization of the Enlightenment.

The paintings described by Abbé Charay in 1966 have unfortunately disappeared. The upper floors are currently divided into private apartments; we were unable to view the "red room" or the "bishop's room" he mentioned, nor the "Italian factories" painted on canvas and framed with rocaille patterns and polychrome flowers. The numerous artworks he chronicled have likely vanished into private collections. The historical archives of the estate have since been relocated to the Departmental Archives of Privas.

It is worth noting that the façades and roofs of the Château de Chambonas have been listed in the Supplementary Inventory of Historical Monuments since the decree of April 2, 1963. The entire park, the grand staircase, the Italian salon, the grand salon that follows it, and the small salon in the northeast tower are all fully classified historical monuments.

The Château de Chambonas remains strictly private property. However, on select occasions, the public is granted access to the magnificent gardens. Local historical and scholarly societies are also occasionally hosted in the grand rooms described above. In all circumstances, it is essential to deeply respect the privacy of the residents. Ardèche, land of castles. By Michel Riou. Published by La Fontaine de Siloé.