Grégory Mangeret opens one of the 130 windows of the castle, to let in the light. On the walls, shelves filled with books with gold covers climb to the ceiling. “Here is the library. It’s as if the family left 150 years ago and everything had remained as it was. We imagine them living, we imagine the household staff”he smiled, pointing to a fireplace still filled with ashes.
Visits in her juice
This Parisian who works in events, bought the Château de Fayolle last March with his partner Florence, herself from Dordogne, after a big shared crush. “When we arrived, there were still letters, with the pencil on the desk”, he said. The castle is monumental: hidden between groves and dozens of hectares of fields, it is around 3,000 square meters. It belonged for a long time to the Fayolle family, a large family from Périgord, who lived off the income from their agricultural land and the work of sharecroppers.
The last marquis died in 2012, and since the castle was almost abandonedand often used for urbex. “People came from Portugal, Switzerland, Holland” to do urbex, explains Grégory. Over the years, the castle has deteriorated, and tapestries, furniture and accessories have disappeared. When the couple first entered, there was 2 cm of dust in each room.
loading
Official opening in 2025
Grégory says that in Tocane, many people have a link with the castle, either because grandparents were sharecroppers, or worked in the service of the Fayolle family. But the castle has never opened to visitors, at least officially, and the couple absolutely want to show it off, and as quickly as possible. Very few people are aware that the castle houses a theater, or that the wallpapers in one of the rooms were made by hand, before being exhibited in New York.
Although it will be necessary to wait until next year for the development work to be completed, the couple will propose this summer a “pre-opening”, with guided tours of the castle “as is”, with an actor-speaker. They will begin on July 5, the date of the Félibrée, and will take place until the beginning of September, with five visits per day.
For the official opening in 2025Florence and Grégory have already thought big, with shows, mapping, and even candle concerts.
