Château Choisi (Bursinel)

The Château de Choisi was built in 1828 for Armand Delessert, whose family (the Cossonay branch) was one of the most prominent in Vaud in the 18th and 19th centuries. Its most famous representatives distinguished themselves particularly in finance, science, and politics. They held important positions in France. Armand Delessert, born in 1780, had a brilliant career in France and the United States. In 1810, he married Maria Archer, originally from England, whose family members owned the area from Oujonnet to Bursinel. The couple had four children and stayed in France before returning to Switzerland in 1825. Here they bought large tracts of land. These land purchases near the lands of Armand's in-laws formed an extensive area that was renamed "Choisi" (Chosen). Here, in 1828, the Château was built by the entrepreneur-architect Samuel Noblet according to plans by the Ticinese architect Louis Bagutti.

Arthur Delessert, the elder son of Armand and Maria, inherited Choisi in 1857 and sold it in 1871 to Arthur-Auguste Brölemann. At the beginning of the 20th century, the property came into the possession of Adolphe Bontoux through marriage. Since the 1930s, the property has belonged to a Geneva banking family. In 1946, they made the house available to Sir Winston Churchill, who stayed there from August 23rd to September 16th.