The heritage
The first traces of the Château de Briançon appear in the 10th century in history. This initial castle was destroyed; only the cellars, the boiler room, and the underground passages still exist.
The current Château de Briançon, as we know it, was built in 1530. It takes its name from the de Briançon family, who lived there from the 11th to the 13th century. They were the first family to settle in. Subsequently, several families succeeded in this lordly residence: the Briand Family, the Montjean Family, the Beauveau Family, and the Daillon Family, the latter being the owners of the castle from 1490 to 1686, contributing to numerous modifications. From 1686, Antoine Gaston De Roquelaure, an aristocrat, military officer, and Peer of France, inherited the Barony. His wife, Marie Louise de Laval, sold the Château in 1725 to Charles-François Lefebvre de Laubrière, a French magistrate and prelate, bishop of Soissons, born in Angers. The Barony became a Marquisate, and the territory expanded, becoming considerable (today, it would take a 15-minute drive from the castle gates to the end of the territory).
Then, Count Henri Joseph de Charette, from a family of ministers, became the owner of the Château de Briançon. After his death in 1932, his widow, Laurence Guérineau, became the owner. Shortly after, she remarried and went to live in her husband's residence. Wanting to preserve her Château without leaving it abandoned, she decided to rent it to host summer camps for underprivileged youth. Eight years later, finding it in a deplorable condition, she decided to sell the undamaged furniture, creating an 'empty castle,' and resold the Château to the association La Résidence Sociale in 1941.
La Résidence Sociale, based in Levallois-Perret (92300), was looking for a place to accommodate orphaned children from Paris, away from the war. Since its purchase in 1941, the Château de Briançon has had several functions, always respecting the association's social values.
Between 1948 and 1969, it was a sanatorium, a place of rest where children and adolescents in convalescence came to breathe fresh air. Then, a nursery was established from 1960 to 1981, initially in the castle and later in the current Marzelle. Between 1969 and 2013, the Château housed an IME (Institut Médico-Éducatif); in the meantime, new premises were created near the estate to diversify and improve the support for young people. Due to the new legislation granted to IMEs, the castle's infrastructure was no longer suitable. Since 2013, the Château de Briançon has been a socio-cultural platform housing a leisure center with adapted accommodations and specific support, as well as a tourist hotel consisting of 14 rooms, classified as three stars in 2018.
The tourist service at the Château de Briançon allows you to host your private and professional events (privatization, seminar rooms and team buildings, photo shoots, filming, exhibitions, etc.). A village of artisans capable of accommodating up to 4 artists (ceramicist, plaster modeler, florist, etc.) is set up in the outbuildings. Cultural events are also organized throughout the year.