Nouvelle-Aquitaine
History of Puy Vidal
THE LIVRON FAMILY
Originally from the Dauphine, the de Livron family first settled in Limousin, and then dedicated themselves to Calvinism.
It is most likely Jacques who had Puyvidal reconstructed, and had the initials F.L., for Foucault de Livron, name of the common grandfather of Agnes and Jacques, and the name of their son, engraved above the door of the inner courtyard. Foucauld de Livron, lord of Puyvidal and Sonneville, is recorded as having lived at Puy Vidal in 1508.
In 1568, Geoffroy or Jean de Livron, is recorded as being the vassal to the count François III de la Rochefoucuald.
In 1594, Jean de Livron was delegated to the protestant assembly of Jonzac to the election of a deputy of the reformed religion. In 1684, Knight Jacques de Livron de Puyvidal, served as a captain in the regiment of Premont, on the eve of the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. On the 11th of May, 1723, Francois de Livron, knight of Puyvidal, is killed with a rifle on the banks of the Bandiat, after having insulted and chasing away frog hunters in the river.
Château de Puy Vidal is a listed historic landmark in the heart of Nouvelle Aquitaine, an ancient building with a history that stretches back to the Middle Ages.
A FORTRESS ON A HILL
The name "Puy Vidal" means "a feudal mound located at a place called Vidal". The castle stands on a natural hillock that overlooks the Bandiat valley. Listed in the archives as early as the 11th century, Chateau du Puy Vidal has serenely sat atop this hill for centuries.
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It began as a medieval fortress, originally forming a rectangle with four towers- three of these wings are still standing, now forming a U-shape. Though largely rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries and then remodelled in the 1970’s and 1980s, the Chateau de Puy Vidal still possesses many elements of the late Middle Ages: defensive tower and a large Gothic dwelling. The house is characteristic, with its austere and defensive facade to the north, and the facade on the courtyard side abundantly pierced and decorated with mouldings and quality sculptures, such as mullioned windows, a beautiful ogival arch with delicate ribs and crosses at the top, a spiral staircase and large external stone chimneys.
Only the north tower has kept its original height. The northwest corner is occupied by a rectangular pavilion, remodelled in 1810. It is likely at this time that the roods were replaced by flat terracotta roofs, in the Roman style.
1267 AD
GENERATIONS OF LADIES & KNIGHTS
In 1267, Guiot David, a squire, paid hommage of Puyvidal to Hugues de Lusignan, Count of La Marche and Angouleme.
The next documented lord of Puy Vidal was Pierre Chafrais in 1313. He was lord of Puy Vidal by his wife, who was a David, probably a daughter of Guiot David. Captain of Aubeterre in 1340, he served under the orders of Itier Magnac, seneschal of Saintonge, at the beginning of the Hundred Years War.
His son, Simon Chafrais was married in 1350 to Helene du Dognon, Lady of Rouffiac. Their daughter, the Marquise de Chafrais, married Guillaume II de Bremont, knight and lord of Ars. Her husband was killed on October 25th, 1415 at the Battle of Azincourt. They had a son- Pierre de Bremont, son of the lord of Ars, of Balanzac and Puyvidal, who later married Jeanne de Livron, daughter of Foucauld de Livron, Lord of Wart.
Pierre and Jeanne's daughter, Agnes, married her first cousin, Jacques de Livron, and thus brought the land of Puyvidal into the Livron family through dowry. It stayed in this family until the middle of the 19th century.
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GENERAL LAFAYETTE &
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
It is during this century that General Lafayette is said to have slept in what is now referred to as the Chambre Lafayette, one of the beautiful bedrooms of Chateau de Puy Vidal, just before departing for the Americas.
He was born a french aristocrat in south central France. He departed for the Americas and fought in the American Revolutionary War under George Washington, commanding American troops in several battles, including the siege of Yorktown. After returning to France, he was a key figure in the French Revolution of 1789 and the July Revolution of 1830.
THE FRENCH REVOLUTION
Jean- Jacques Livron was a knight (chevalier) who served as bodyguard to king Louis XVI. He fled France in 1792 due to the French Revolution as part of the large emigration.
In 1797, the auction of the goods having belonged to the emigrant Jean Livron-Puyvidal, lists the metairie of Puyvidal consisting of "a settler's house, barn, roof for sheep and pigs, cart, garden, meadows, arable land, thatched land, wood coppice, plus four hundred and forty two oak trees, elms and poplars scattered in the metairie."
The sale was made for the sum of 4092,60 Francs.
19th THROUGH 20th CENTURY
In 1805 Elisabeth de Livron married Etienne Rousseau de Magnac. This metairie would return to Etienne and Prosper Rousseau de Magnac, also owner of the metairie de La Porte in 1847. The de Magnac was faithful to Napoleon III, but had to sell Puyvidal in 1908.
The succeeding families after this sale are the De Piot who then sold to the Charrons in 1919. They sold to the Matour family in 1940. During their ownership, the salons of Puy Vidal were converted to classrooms to allow the boys school "L'ecole St Paul" from Angouleme, to refuge from WWII during their third trimester.
In 1958, Puy Vidal was then sold to the Huerta family who moved to France to flee Spain.
They created apartments at the Chateau and rented them out to American officers and their families who were stationed in the area.
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CHARENTAISES
The Huerta family sold the Chateau in 1975 to the Rondinaud family, a prominent presence in the region who had developed an important business manufacturing the traditional and much-beloved regional "Charentaises"- handmade woollen slippers, manufactured inside-out with traditional savoir faire, exported around the world. They conducted massive renovations to the property, restoring many historic details and adding modern conveniences to this ancient home. Their son, Frederic Rondinaud and his wife, Marie Laure Rondinaud. transformed the large sloping park to the north into an elaborate French formal garden in 2002. This was named a "Jardin Remarkable", open to the public for garden visits. It consists of a large lawn, a hedgerow labyrinth, a cypress alley, a small wood, as well as a rose garden, a flower garden and a vegetable kitchen garden.
NEW BEGINNINGS
In 2021, the Rondinaud family sold to the Leach family from the US. As each era has come and gone, each generation has layered its own re-imaginings and transformation. The mix of architectures and eras has infused Puy Vidal with is unique character and charm. It has never been uninhabited, and that has infused the property with a palpable feeling of uninterrupted care and love.
FIND BEAUTY WITHIN
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