Château Haussmann
CastleHidden Treasure
Château Haussmann, located in Cestas (Gironde), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Castle
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Cestas, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 44.7444, -0.6606
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00083518
A retreat for Baron Haussmann, the renovator of Paris, this Second Empire château designed by Victor Baltard boasts a refined interior - stained glass, stucco and panelling - in the heart of the Gironde moors.
History
Nestling in the discreet greenery of Cestas, on the outskirts of Bordeaux, Château Haussmann is much more than an elegant late 19th-century residence: it is the personal sanctuary of a man who reshaped the face of Paris. Built in the third quarter of the 19th century on the site of a former family charterhouse, the building bears the intellectual signature of Victor Baltard, the brilliant architect of Les Halles de Paris, and bears witness to the sure taste of an era when the Second Empire dictated its splendour to all French bourgeois architecture. What sets Château Haussmann apart from many other Gironde residences is the intense bond between the stones and their owner. Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann spent the last years of his life here, far from Parisian controversy, writing his famous Memoirs - three volumes in which he ardently defended his work of urban transformation. The site is therefore as much an architectural monument as it is a first-rate literary and historical testimony. Visitors are surprised by the richness of its interiors: coloured stained glass windows diffusing a subdued light, finely stuccoed decorations, carefully crafted panelling and painted door tops make up a coherent whole that evokes the opulent comfort of the grand residences of the imperial upper middle class. The semi-hexagonal front, visible from the park, gives the façade an austere yet distinctive look, far removed from the eclectic exuberance of some contemporary châteaux. The estate is extended by a group of remarkably well-preserved outbuildings: a polygonal water tower with a singular silhouette, stables and a wine storehouse are all reminders that the property functioned as a truly self-sufficient estate, rooted in the tradition of the great Bordeaux farms. All set against the distinctive landscape of the Gironde forests and moors, offering an atmosphere of almost melancholy serenity.
Architecture
Château Haussmann is part of the eclectic architecture of the Second Empire, tinged with a sober classicism typical of the bourgeois homes of the Gironde upper middle classes. The main building, rectangular in plan, has a ground floor and two upper storeys covered by a Mansard or steeply pitched roof, characteristic of the Haussmann style itself - whether this was intended as irony or not. The north and south facades are enlivened by semi-hexagonal projections that introduce a geometrical dynamic rare in this type of regional building, giving the ensemble a certain originality in the panorama of Gironde châteaux. The interior is decorated in a highly coherent style, typical of the enlightened bourgeois taste of the third quarter of the 19th century: coloured stained glass framing the windows, moulded stucco decorating the ceilings and cornices, wood panelling covering the walls of the reception rooms, and painted door tops in a decorative tradition inherited from the Ancien Régime but reinterpreted with Napoleon III restraint. The whole evokes the quality of execution that was possible on the great Parisian building sites of the period, for which Baltard and Haussmann were the prime contractors. The outbuildings form a remarkable functional and architectural ensemble: the polygonal water tower, a technical element that has become an architectural object in its own right, testifies to the modern spirit of the client, who was as attached to water infrastructures for his properties in the Gironde region as for the capital. The stables and wine storehouse, set in front of the south facade, form a forebay of outbuildings that frames and sets the scene for the approach to the main château.
Related Figures
Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809-1891) — baron, préfet de la Seine, maître d'ouvrage et habitant du châteauOctavie de La Harpe, baronne Haussmann — épouse du baron, héritière de la chartreuse familiale à CestasVictor Baltard (1805-1874) — architecte des Halles de Paris, auteur des plans du châteauDuphot — architecte chargé de la maîtrise d'œuvre et de la conduite des travauxNapoléon III (1808-1873) — commanditaire politique des grands travaux parisiens d'Haussmann, contexte de la construction
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Château Haussmann located?
Château Haussmann is located in Cestas, Gironde department, Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, France.
When was Château Haussmann built?
Château Haussmann dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Château Haussmann open to visitors?
Château Haussmann is currently closed to visitors.
