#197 Château de Villemonteix
Saint-Pardoux-les-Cards, Creuse, France
1425 and later
This is NOT an official Lego site

The Château de Villemonteix is one of four châteaux that historically protected the city of Ahun in the Middle Ages. It began as the Villa Montis in the Gallo-Roman era.  I have been unable to ascertain who fortified the structure in the early fifteenth century.  The first owner mentioned is the Marquis de Biencourt, who apparently sided with the monarchy during the French Revolution three and one half centuries after the château was fortified.  There is no specific reference to Napoleonic repercussions, but just four years after the Revolution, the castle passed to Charles de la Barre, Viscount of Bridiers. The estate was purchased by a Mrs. Aubert, the widow of a notary from Boussac in 1888, and later passed to the Sallandrouze family from Aubusson.  In 1946 the castle was declared a Historic Monument.  The castle was acquired by Pierre Lajoix in 1982, with many repairs made in the ensuing years, and is open to the public. 
The layout of Villemonteix is a rectangular tower of four stories and a garret. A pair of round towers of four and five stories grace the SW and NW corners respectively. There is a square stair tower roughly in the middle of the east face of the rectangle.  A pair of smaller round towers protected the NE and SE corners of the roughly square courtyard.  At a later date several additional buildings were added to the south side of the courtyard, creating a long Z-plan.  These buildings contained both residential and culinary areas, including a pair of side-by-side walk-in ovens.  Around 1728 the courtyard gate was modified, and the two story curtain walls were leveled.  My model includes both ground level entrance/exits, one or both possible added at that time.  The well is located in the north half of the courtyard.
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The view from the
west northwest.		 The view from the south,
including outbuildings.		 The main entrance in the stair tower. One of several gargoyle
rain spouts.

 

Floor Plan
(With a bit of luck, I'll hear
from the current owners.)

 

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Photos of the Lego Model
Under construction May, 2025
On May 23rd the castle is laid out. Two days later the slightly raised
front of the castle is built up...		 ...with the pond side to be
a bit lower.
 On May 26 the base of the
castle well defined.
By May 29, the ground floor on both
the tower and curtain walls are built.		 The back view highlights
the postern door and the
gradual slope to the pond.		 Here is the main entrance
into the stair tower.
On May 31 the protective curtain
wall as I imagine it looked in
medieval times is complete 		Here are a pair of side views
of the walled courtyard.		 Note the small cadre of local
soldiers happy to guard the
ongoing construction.
 And the château is rotated 180º
a second time - so work can
concentrate on the tower house.
Two days later the second level has
been added to the tower house.		 Here is the view of the back of the
tower, with its pair of round towers.		 And on June 3rd, the third
level [2nd story] is added.
 The west side is a bit more varied -
and I have not photographed the
windowless north and south views.
June 4 is devoted to the 3rd story,
and to the supports for the future
embattled parapet walk and roof.		 On the west [back] side, I'm also dealing
with the upper portions of the round towers.		 By the next day construction of
the machicolated battlements
has begun.
They're uninterrupted along
the back of the tower.
The parapet walk is quickly
in place...
...and on June 6 roof construction... ...is underway. Here's a view of the roofing
behind the stair tower.
 And lastly a close-up of the
strengthening of the top
of one of the large towers.

 

Photos of the Lego Model
Built May-June 2025
Castle finished on June 11.  Here
is the front [east] view.		 The view from the southeast. And from the south.
 The pair of round towers can be
appreciated as we move to the
southwest.
 The west [back] view.
The west-northwest view.
 The view from the north-
northwest shows more of
the courtyard gate.
 The north side of the castle.
 And finally, northeast.

 

Build Your Own
The Lego Plan includes the outbuildings which I decided
were likely post-Medieval and thus excluded from the model.
Lego Plan
East Elevation North Elevation West Elevation Top Down


Other Villemonteix Castle pages:
https://lajoixbranger.wixsite.com/chateauvillemonteix
https://www.tourisme-creuse.com/en/offers/chateau-de-villemonteix-saint-pardoux-les-cards-en-1438745/
https://www.france-voyage.com/tourism/villemonteix-castle-1290.htm
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g14901182-d3841534-i402366270-Chateau_de_Villemonteix-Saint_Pardoux_les_Cards_Creuse_Nouvelle_Aquita.html

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Castles created by Robert Carney
Page created and maintained by Robert Carney