Castle of Bournel

Bournel Castle is the property of the Marquis de Moustier, an old Franche-Comté family which has its origins in a small village in Doubs, Mouthier-Hautepierre overlooking the Loue valley 60 km away. The members of this illustrious family, whose motto "Moustier sera maugré le Sarrazin" recalls its existence from the time of the Crusades, were throughout the ages warriors, soldiers until the 1868th century, diplomats until 1958, politicians on the regional and national level until XNUMX, and still actively participate in the economic life of our region.

It is 1496 that the current Domaine de Bournel entered the family through the rich marriage of Jean de Moustier with Miss Marguerite de Granvillars. The family then settled in the fortified castle to the south of the estate, in the small village of Nans. It was there that Philippe-Xavier was born, first marquis (letters patent of 1741), colonel of the Grand-Dauphin regiment and who married in 1732 Mademoiselle Louise de Bournel, last descendant of his family which gives its name to the current property . Around 1735, she decided to build a new castle on Cubry, but after the construction of a set of important buildings, today called "Old Castle", the project for the real castle was abandoned.

The French Revolution, the Empire and the restoration succeeding each other, the great-grandson of Philippe-Xavier, Léonel de Moustier, Fifth Marquis, high-flying diplomat (ambassador to Berlin, Vienna, Constantinople and Minister of Affairs Foreigners of Napoleon III) decided around 1860 to build a modern neo-Gothic castle, based on the plans of the architect Clément Parent, a student of Viollet le Duc.

Died young in 1869, it was his son Pierre-René who finished the interior decoration, built the chapel inspired by that of Ambroise, designed the French gardens inside the terraces and planted the English park with a wide variety of trees. It is he also who transforms and enlarges the "Old Castle" (1890/1910) to give it its current aspect.