Château du Chambon

Château du Chambon stands in Le Chambon, Bersac-sur-Rivalier, France, and was built by members of the French nobility.

Medieval elements of the site predate the Renaissance rebuilding. The large south tower shows characteristics of 15th‑century residential towers found in the Marche, and two circular towers on the rear façade are described as probably the oldest parts of the present complex. Externally the building preserves forms close to the end of the Middle Ages, while later work introduced newer styles.

The main phase of construction visible today dates to the mid‑16th century. Balthazar Deaulx officially erected the château during that century, and a decorated doorway on the principal façade carries the date 1549. The Deaulx family retained ownership of the estate through subsequent inheritances and name changes, keeping Le Noyer and Le Chambon within the family up to the end of the 20th century.

The Desmarais family carried out substantial changes in the 18th century. A report of repairs from 1725 records significant work, and mid‑century rearrangements reorganised the principal living block. A bridge portal, completed and dated 1757, bears the Desmarais family arms and marks this phase of alteration. These 18th‑century changes helped give the château much of its present overall form.

The château was involved in events of the French Revolution. Joseph Louis Desmarais emigrated on 11 October 1791. During the 1792 confiscations Anne Renée Desmarais purchased the property and it remained under the Desmarais name thereafter. Anne Renée and her mother Jeanne de Sauzet sheltered the refractory priest Pierre‑Grégoire Labiche de Reignefort at the château during the revolutionary period; Labiche later mentioned these women in a book published in 1820. Joseph Louis Desmarais returned after the amnesty of 15 September 1802.

Late‑19th‑century changes accompanied family events. After the 1873 marriage of Marie‑Alix Desmarais to Sylvain Marquis de la Celle, Vicomte de Châteauclos, a large dining room was probably inserted into the house, and the couple contributed to restorations of the church at Bersac. The property remained in the family line into the last years of the 20th century. By decree of 28 November 2001 the façades and roofs of the main residential block, the monumental stairwell cage, the entire interior of the southeast tower, and the ground of the surrounding parcels were inscribed on the supplementary inventory of historic monuments, giving those elements protected status.