Château de Chavagnes

The Château de Chavagne is a historic seigneurial residence located in Sucé-sur-Erdre (at La Basse Bodinière), in the Loire-Atlantique department of the Pays de la Loire region in western France, about 15 km north of Nantes.

The first castle was built around 1370 by Pierre de Saffré, seigneur de Bougon and grand veneur (chief huntsman) of Duke Jean V of Brittany, on the ruins of an earlier hunting lodge. It became the seat of a seigneury and remained in the Saffré family until 1489.

In 1571 the estate was acquired by Jean Morin de La Sorinière, First President of the Chamber of Accounts of Brittany and mayor of Nantes in 1571 and 1572. Around 1599–1600 his daughter Jeanne Morin married Joachim Descartes, councillor in the Parlement of Brittany and father of the philosopher René Descartes (born from a previous marriage in 1596). The château passed into the Descartes family by inheritance in 1609 and became one of the residences of the “Descartes de Chavagne” (alongside their town house in Rennes). René Descartes stayed there on several occasions, as attested by his signatures in the local civil registers of Sucé-sur-Erdre in 1617, 1622, 1628 and 1644.

In 1688 the property was sold to Claude Luzeau de la Grande-Noë, royal councillor. It later passed to the Luzeau de la Mulonnière family; one of their descendants, a priest, was killed in 1792 during the Revolutionary period.

The present building dates from the late 14th century and was enlarged and remodelled in the 16th, 17th and 19th centuries. It consists of two main ranges framing an octagonal tower, with a return wing and outbuildings. An old doorway surmounted by a coat of arms (possibly that of the Saffré family) is a notable feature.

The entire logis, together with the façades and roofs of the annex buildings, was inscribed as a Monument historique on 30 November 1994. The château is private property and has been recently restored.