Trip 4: CHATEAUX de VILLANDRY …. The Gardens on the East Side (Chateau of the Loire Valley) = Post 5

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Note: I would like  to share with  you  through  these few words, photographs and hyperlinked websites, a 3 Dimensional  experience as though you were  actually there with  us. To see each photograph in a very clear way as though you were  with us by clicking the right side of your cursor. It should say: ‘Open in a new window’ or ‘Open image in a new tab‘. Look at the tab on the edge of the upper screen. Each photograph will come up very clear. You are an arm chair traveller with us.

If you would also like  to see the post in a larger or smaller size, I suggest you follow this procedure: If you right-handed, with your left hand, press  down continuously  on the Control Function Key  with your left hand and with your right hand, move  the   little  cursor wheel either forwards or backwards to make the text in the post larger or smaller.

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The Chateau of Villandry is the last of the great chateaux (Chateaux is for castle in France) of the Loire built during the Renaissance in the Loire Valley. The sober elegance of its architecture combined with the charm of its outstanding gardens make this one of the jewels of world heritage.

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An avant-garde architectural design

It has the distinctive feature of being the residence of neither a king nor a courtesan, but of Jean Le Breton, Minister of Finance for François I.

At Villandry, Jean Le Breton drew on his exceptional architectural experience acquired on a large number of sites, including the Chateau of Chambord, which he supervised and directed on behalf of the Crown over many years.

When he arrived in Villandry in 1532, he had the old feudal fortress razed to the ground, except for the keep, a dramatic testimony to the conference held on 4 July 1189 at which Henry II of England (Henry Plantagenet) admitted his defeat before King Philip Augustus of France, signing the treaty known as “La Paix de Colombiers ” (The Peace of Colombiers) two days before he died.

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Changes to the Villandry estate in the 18th century

Up until the acquisition of the feudal estate of Villandry by the Marquis of Castellane in 1754, no known changes were made to the Renaissance building. The new owner, an appreciator of neoclassicism, made major alterations to the chateau and gardens, in keeping with the tastes of the period.

Neoclassical modifications to the interior of the chateau

In the hands of descendants of Jean Le Breton since 1532, the Villandry estate was purchased in 1754 by the Marquis of Castellane, ambassador of King Louis XV and a member of a very old, very illustrious family of the Provençal nobility.

Built in the Renaissance, the chateau was cold and uncomfortable. The Marquis of Castellane set about renovating the interior, with a degree of success, so as to make it inhabitable, incorporating standards of comfort approaching those of today – in particular, the installation of wood panelling for soundproofing and thermal insulation – while the neoclassical style lent it unquestionable charm.

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Joachim Carvallo and Ann Coleman restore Villandry

« I was near Lyon when I heard about this property. I came to visit it. The chateau was all windows, balconies, trompe-l’oeil openings. (…) [It] was lost in a forest of trees and greenery (…). But overall it appealed to me. The price didn’t seem over the top. The contract was signed there and then. » (1)

Villandry regains its Renaissance appearance

As a result of architectural changes made in the 18th century, the Renaissance chateau had lost its character: it remained that way until 1906. In the early 20th century, Dr. Joachim Carvallo and his wife Ann Coleman, heir to an American iron and steel empire, purchased Villandry. Leaving behind the laboratories of the Paris Faculty of Medicine where, a favourite disciple of Charles Richet (winner of the Nobel Prize in 1913), he was conducting advanced research into the physiology of digestion, Carvallo put all his energies and fortune into restoring Villandry to its former glory. With the help of a team of 100 stonemasons, he gave the chateau’s façades back their Renaissance beauty.

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« The effect of the initial transformations was amazing. In less than a week, Villandry had regained its Renaissance character. I invited the members of the Touraine Archeology Society to come and witness the work I had carried out. These gentlemen, who were accustomed to seeing Villandry covered in false windows, which gave it the gloomy, monotonous appearance of a barracks, were filled with wonder; they couldn’t believe their eyes and thought that, with the wave of a magic wand, I had built a new chateau. »(2)

Villandry, a family story

Joachim Carvallo devoted the rest of his life to restoring Villandry. His heirs have carried on his work and with the same passion have maintained the chateau and gardens open to the public since 1920, thus preserving the family element which has been characteristic of the house ever since it was built in 1532. The current owner, Henri Carvallo, is Ann and Joachim’s great-grandson.
(1) and (2) P. Le Noach, Histoire de Villandry et de son château, Tours, Impr. Mariotton, 1949

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The incoming path to the chateau and gardens:

….. A big tree greets us on entry to the chateau and gardens ….

 Roses in pink and red flowers on the stone wall

The gardens from a distance ……  they are vast in their layout. The gardens are laid in a grid pattern. Grids are connected by gravel paths ….. such paths allow easy access to the vast garden.  Each grid is bounded by a clipped hedge which are up to waist height ie. from about 300 mm to 1000 mm = a metre high. You could easily spend a whole day exploring the garden and the chateau (which in French means a castle).

See this post on the layout of the gardens.