Chateau de Montmuzard, Early 18th Century Architecture in Europe- Emilia Kightley-Sutter

Inconvenient spread out plan

CHÂTEAU DE MONTMUZARD

Le Chateau de Montmuzard was a union of Greek and French style, and is partially destroyed located in Dijon, Cote-d’Or. The castle today remains in the middle of the forested park of 3 hectares, which is privately owned. Initially, the castle had a rough time getting finished- the original owner Claude-Philibert Fyot de la Walk died in 1768, just three years after the architect, Charles de Wailly began constructing the chateau. At the time De Wailly wasn’t well known, so it was unusual he was commissioned for such a large project, set in a vast area which was 72 hectares for a parliamentarian. He was inspired by geometric perfection: a circle. He aspired for a building shaped as a temple, with a circle and dome at the center of the action.

After the politicians death he went into extreme dept, his lucky son inherited the project and finished the castle in 1769. He, Jean-Phillippe, was the first President of the Parliament of Burgundy and he hosted many extravagant celebrations at the building, although he later faced financial hardships which lead to him not maintaining the building. He resigned from office and died three years after the castles completion.

The estate then passed to Jean-Phillippe’s sister, Marie-Madeleine who didn’t hold the family’s love for the castle and sold it to a rich merchant, Jacques Demay. Just 10 years after the castle was completed, Jacques Demay died and passed the castle onto his daughter, who then passed it onto his eldest son, Claude Hubert Antony. He sold parts of the building such as the lead dome. Then more than half of the building fell to the ground and was demolished by the owner Claude Hubert Antony in 1795. After all this drama of reconstruction and new ownerships, the main building received a facelift between the 2 wide wings, making the castle turn into a T-shape. The new building in the center acted as a connection between the 2 wings.

The main plan of the castle looks like 2 rectangular boxes with a circle in between them, the three in a straight horizontal line. The plan is pretty inconvenient considering if you are in the far right wing office you probably won’t want to scurry over to the salle à manger, or the dining room, in the left wing. The luxury of walking around aimlessly must have diminished slightly over the years whereas modern day “chateaus” have open plans with combined spaces for functional rooms, this need for function was not a worry for castle owners who enjoyed the grandiosity of large spread out spaces.

The large estate of 72 hectares covered by garden was often cut in by subdivisions as new buildings were built to provide for a growing population. This split up the land but also made it more manageable for the owners. In 1867 a large portion of the south-west garden was split by the installation of a railway track and Porte-Neuve station. Later development in 1933 resulted in 45 hectares of the eastern garden being given up to the city to create a sports park.

Works Cited

Watkin, David. "8." A History of Western Architecture. London: Laurence King, 2015. 391-416. Print.

Curl, James Stevens., and Susan Wilson. The Oxford Dictionary of Architecture. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2016. Print.