Château de Bonport (Château de Tresserve)

Château de Bonport in Tresserve, France, is a late 16th-century manor erected under the authority of the Duchy of Savoy. Built shortly after 1584 during the early modern period, it served as the administrative and residential center of the seigneury known as Bonport or the Grande Vigne and was raised to county status in the same decades, giving it a clear role in local governance under Savoyard rule.

The estate appears in records from 1344 as belonging to Humbert de Seyssel, but the standing house dates to the years immediately following 1584. In 1575 Emmanuel-Philibert of Savoy transferred rights over the Grande Vigne to Renée of Savoy, and in 1584 Charles-Emmanuel I of Savoy confirmed its jurisdictional elevation, creating the county tied to Renée. Within a few years the property changed hands repeatedly: in 1588 Renée’s heirs sold it to Charles Veillet, who in turn sold it in 1590 to Jean-François Berliet, the archbishop of Tarentaise. By 1603 Louis Bonnier, a lawyer, owned the estate and the duke formally established the land as the seigneury of Bonport.

Throughout the 17th and 18th centuries the château remained an aristocratic seat. By 1674 François Capré, seigneur of Megève and president of the Chamber of Accounts of Savoy, held the domain and on 19 February 1686 he declared his fealty to Duke Victor Amadeus II of Savoy. The Capré de Megève family kept ownership until 1734; their family motto, Non indigna cœlo, was placed above the entrance door and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin formed part of the property in 1729. In 1760 the Capré family sold the domain to Louis-François Berthier de Crempigny de Saint-Vincent.

The 19th century brought further changes of ownership and notable visitors. In 1806 the estate passed to a Mr. Mayen of Chambéry. In August 1812 Pauline Borghèse, accompanied by the actor Talma, was received at the château. Ownership continued to shift in later decades; by 1872 the property belonged to Baron Chollet du Bourget, then to Countess Hélène de Tollu, and in 1901 to the British Lord Joseph Charlton-Parr, before later passing to the Gauthier family. Over time the broader grounds were divided and developed.

In the late 20th century the château entered a leisure and hospitality phase. In 1968 Joseph Alexandre Claret-Tournier, a Courchevel hotelier, acquired the building. Private operators converted parts of the house into nightlife venues in successive forms, including the dance hall Le Bassamba, the discothèque Le 502, and later two night establishments named L’Étoile in the basement (capacity about 400) and Le Château on the ground floor (capacity about 200). The surrounding land became a housing subdivision called La colline du poète and the former lakeside port area became the present Lido beach.

A major fire struck the building in the early hours of 19 July 2008, causing the roof, the top-floor floor, and the left-hand tower to collapse. The château was auctioned on 20 December 2012 and bought for €275,000 by three hoteliers-restaurateurs from Viviers-du-Lac. In 2013 Nicolas Claret-Tournier repurchased the property and began a restoration that followed the previous layout. Structural repairs were finished by 2020, secondary work followed, and the site reopened in 2021 under the name Château de Tresserve for events such as corporate seminars and weddings.