Château du Plessis

History

The “Château du Plessis” was built between 1434 and 1446 by a gentleman named Thorton, a Scottish archer mercenary of King Louis XI. In addition to his military duties, he was appointed by the king to collect tax from the local population. This in no way affected his ability to build an elegant Renaissance castle!

The Thorton family continued to own the Château until the late 18th century. Along the way, they changed their name to the more French sounding version “Tourneton” and adopted the motto “Quand on a Coeur, tourne-t’on” (a play on words based on the adopted name; literally translating to “When one has a heart, does one turn away?”).

Early on, the Château is attached to the fiefdom of the Château de Montbazon but later became vassal to the “Prince Évêque” (bishop) of Tours whose castle can be seen in the nearby village of Artanne.

Le Plessis was expanded in the 19th century. At the time it was owned by Monsieur de Maisonrouge whose uncle also owned the nearby Château de Saché where he frequently hosted the famed writer Honoré de Balzac hiding from his Parisian creditors. Balzac was a frequent visitor to Le Plessis and to Thilouze, where he wrote “La Pucelle de Thilouze” as part of the "Contes Drolatiques" (Droll Stories). As legend has it, the Balzac bedroom is named in his honor as he is said to have repaired there after lunch for a tryst with one of his mistresses).

Both the north and the south wings were added by Monsieur de Maisonrouge at the end of the 19th century when he decided to fill the moat displeased by the insects that inhabited them. He also enlarged the window openings to encourage light penetration and air circulation thereby suppressing the “meneau’ style windows at the despair of Renaissance architecture purists. He further put a roof on the Pigeonnier (Pigeon cote) on top of the tower. Finally he converted the grain storage third floor into servants’ bedrooms adding dormer windows in the neo-gothic style so much in fashion at the end of the 19th century. The large central room with its two monumental chimneys was divided into living and dining areas. The park immediately adjacent to the house was landscaped and lined with trees mostly originated from North America. Included were a few Giant Sequoias as was popular at the time.

Not much is known about the owners of Le Plessis during the first half of the 20th century. From hearsay, it was at one time converted into a honey farm with honey being produced in the living room. Other tales mention a chicken coop in the third floor. What is certain is that Le Plessis fell into hard times. During the 1960’s, a “Pied Noir” (Frenchman born in Algeria) having made a small fortune in the fruit plantation business, escaped the Algerian revolution and bought “Le Plessis” together with a few hundred acres of farmland surrounding it. He went on to build a storage barn near the château, and a massive storage warehouse adjoining the nearby road to Saché. He planted the farmland with apple and pear orchards and went bankrupt soon after when the market for fruits tumbled in the 1970’s. The courts divided the estate into agricultural land and the Château Park which was shrunk to less than eight acres.

A Parisian bought the bankrupt property for a family summer and week-end house. She worked diligently at repairing and modernizing the house in the traditional manner of French country estates, with abundant rustic discomfort. At the entrance she installed a handsome wooden gate that was stolen within weeks of installation. Discouraged, she replaced it with nondescript industrial gates. Following the death of her husband the Parisian owner sold the property to a cardiologist from Tours. The couple and their two adult children attempted to create their dream house. However, years of apartment living did not provide much training for country house restoration. As a result, most of their efforts, while well intended, turned out to be ill conceived and poorly executed. The dream soon became an unbearable burden. The isolation resulting from the demanding schedule of a cardiologist, made them long for the more comfortable city life and they decided to move back to Tours.

The current owners bought Le Plessis in July 2002. The American couple from San Francisco has been through three previous house remodeling projects. Armed with experience and fluency in the French language, they hired a local architect who hunted for the best craftsmen in the area. The plans rapidly took shape. The damaged roof with its neo-gothic dormer windows in Tuffeau stone had to be redone. The new design mixes more harmoniously with the XVII cent A new entrance hall leading to the spiral staircase in the tower was created, providing an elegant entrance on the East façade (as opposed to the original entry in the tower on the West side of the house). The master bedroom was enlarged, dressing rooms were added and a new bathroom was created. The guest room suite was redecorated, a closet type bathroom was converted into a dressing room, and a new full size bathroom was added. On the third floor, four small rooms were converted into two large sunny bedrooms. New hardwood floors were added throughout the house. New heating, plumbing and electrical systems were also included in the project.

The following year, the North wing was entirely remodeled into a lovely apartment for the caretaker, with two bedrooms and a bathroom upstairs, and a dining living area with a full size modern kitchen on the ground floor.

In the early 21st century the north wing was entirely remodeled. On the ground floor, the old kitchen, hallway and bathroom were gutted to make room to a large up to date country kitchen. Upstairs, the hallway was eliminated and the ceilings were removed exposing rich wood beams. A bathroom and laundry room replaced the old hallway.

A daring project was to add an additional wing on the south side to provide ample light and access to the outdoors. The architect’s challenge was to design a room that looked like an addition but not like an appendix tacked at the end of the house. Various concepts were studied, from an English style veranda to a massive extension of the existing building. None of the design concepts seem to work, until the architect came up with a hybrid design, incorporating the existing building material, principally the famous Tuffeau stone, and at the same time a decisively contemporary open environment. The end result is stunning and provides abundant sunlight and vistas of the park from sunrise to sunset.

A large terrace surrounding the room on two sides is accessed through two sets of tall French doors on the south and west sides. Three huge umbrellas and giant chestnut trees provide all the necessary shading on the terrace. Just beyond the spacious terrace is the old 19th century “porcherie” (pig sty), home of the future pool house. The new Swimming Pool with its limestone terrace is located on the other side of the future pool house, in total privacy. It sits in the middle of a vast lawn, with maximum sun exposure.

Le Plessis is located less than 2 km from the village of Thilouze. Nestled along the river Le Lys, a tributary of the river Indre, Thilouze today is home to more than 1,200 souls. Walking into the village, one would guess that no more than 100 people reside in the small village. The main square, is bordered by the 12th century church, the Mairie (City Hall) and the Café. Along the main street, one find the Poste, the news and cigarette shop, a beauty parlor and the boulangerie. Behind the Mairie, the elementary school looks out on a lovely fountain. The village is also home to a doctor, a pharmacy, a notary (Estate lawyer), a blacksmith, and a small convenience store.

The population paradox stems from the fact that Thilouze is just 20 km from Tours a city of ¼ million with an industrial belt. Dropping to fewer than 700 inhabitants during the French exodus from the countryside in the 1970s, it grew steadily in the 1990s as many of the factory workers, including those employed at the Michelin truck tire assembly, are finding that Thilouze is just within commute range. As a result, within the extended city limit of Thilouze, modern bungalow housing projects have mushroomed during the past 20 year. Consequently, the village of Thilouze has kept its quaint peacefulness while enjoying healthy tax revenue from its newly acquired commute population.

The lively community is host to numerous activities for the young and the old, for the culture seekers and for the outdoor adventurers. Throughout the year one might enjoy the annual carnival in February, the firework display on Bastille Day, the Football (soccer) tournament in November, and a pick-up game of Volleyball or Basketball, join the fishing contest on Pentecost Mondays, watch the annual bicycle race on 15 August or enjoy the music festival on 21 June. And while Thilouze is not in Provence, every Friday afternoon passionate games of Pétanque spontaneously take place, culminating in two tournaments in May of each year.

A casual walker can choose among the many local sites, from the XII century church, the Renaissance Manor of Chatelet with its small lake, the prehistoric Dolmen of Les Messandières, the ancient manor of La Ripaudiere, or the old medieval river public Laundromat!