“That, today, is very rare in France”, the Château de Losmonerie, a Renaissance jewel in the heart of nature

Not far from Limoges, in the town of Aixe-sur-Vienne (Haute-Vienne), lies the Losmonerie castle. Its owner shows us this 16th century building, which gives pride of place to nature.

Through the forest, we can see this magnificent Renaissance castle from the 16th century, with its square main building and its outbuildings.

We were talking about a house in the fields at the time. “The house in the fields is a concept that we also see a lot around the cities of the Renaissance. These are the people who will create the structures of the State in the 16th century, the great servants of the State who make houses for themselves in the countryside to discover nature, look at it, discover the fruits”, explains with passion, Guillaume de Villelume, owner of the Château de Losmonerie.

In any case, the Renaissance, like many periods, is a period where people are in admiration of nature.

Guillaume de Villelume

owner of the castle of Losmonerie

Upon entering the building, different rooms are available to visitors. You have to cross several of them to arrive in the large living room where eight Aubusson tapestries are exhibited, a very rare set in France. “What is rare is that they are still on the walls for which they were made, specifies the owner. They have been on these walls since 1750. That is very rare in France today. There are probably not ten places in the country where the tapestries are on the walls for which they were made.”

The paintings are created around the theme of country fun. “It’s very pleasant because it brings nature into the house. We have our Limousin oaks, water almost everywhere and little charactershe describes. Overall, we have before us nature taking over the living room. The big walls make it difficult to see the garden, it allows you to bring the garden into the house.”

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The owner wanted to create a Garden of Eden around the castle. “That’s a bit of an idea with lots of fruit trees, some of which are unusual for Limousin.”

On a piece of land, the owner has gathered exotic tree species: “This is an asiminiere, a very, very interesting tree from North America. If it has enough heat and humidity, in the fall, it produces this fruit for us. The Indians call it ' paw paw'. It's the Anones family, it's very, very good. It's sweet, it has a very strong tropical taste.

By walking a few steps, we find another curiosity: “There's also a yuzu. You know, those Japanese mandarins that chefs love. At the moment, it's a very small green fruit, but it will turn yellow at the end of March, beginning of April, and it's so good .”

Even though the end of the season is near, the house has one of the largest collections of raspberries in France. “There are a hundred varieties: royalty, tadmor, heirloom, and they are different tastes, different colors. There are yellows, different tones of pink, different sizes. There are some that are more or less sweet, more or less musky, more or less acidic, long in the mouth. It's very interesting to have different varieties.”

Lasmonerie Castle is open to visitors. It is even possible to celebrate your wedding there in this fairytale atmosphere.