Château de Villars

En un regard

Le château en bref

The Château de Villars is located in the commune of Beaune-d'Allier, in the Allier department. The seigneury of Villars belonged to the de Molins family from at least 1322. The present castle was built at the end of the 15th century, around 1485, by Charles de Molins, squire and lord of Villars, as the style of its fireplaces attests. The building is mentioned by Nicolas de Nicolay in his Description générale du Bourbonnais, written in 1569. The de Molins family kept the estate until around 1654–1657, when it was acquired by René de Saint Martin. Around 1689 it then passed to Jean Desbouis, a merchant, whose family later took the name Desbouis de Sallebrune. At the end of the 18th century, the estate fell to the Siramy family, wealthy tenant farmers. The castle was converted into a farm and then abandoned in the 1980s. Restoration work has been under way since 2006, led by heritage enthusiasts, and is still continuing today. Built of stone, the main residential building (corps de logis) has two bays and rises over three levels, topped by a raised attic (comble à surcroît). The complex roof combines several tiled slopes. A tower adjoins the south side of the main building, and a former bakehouse stands to the east. Four round towers once marked the perimeter of the small courtyard; one of them survives as a ruin. The Château de Villars is not protected as a historic monument and remains a private residence.