Château de la Vérie

The Château de la Vérie (also known as the Logis de la Vérie) is a historic residence located on the edge of Challans, in the Vendée department of the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It stands along the road to Soullans, a short distance from the town centre and close to the Vendée coast.

Its origins date back to the 9th century, when a fortified structure was erected against the threat of Norman and Scandinavian invasions, given the site’s proximity to the sea and the Gulf of Soullans. In 1130 it came under the guardianship of the Templars based at Coudrie. In the early 14th century Jehan Belleron was seigneur of La Vérie. The estate later passed to the Frondebœuf family; in 1400 Agnès Frondebœuf brought it as a dowry to the knight Guillaume du Plantis, seigneur de La Guyonnière.

At the end of the 16th century Claude du Plantis sold the property to André Bouhier, treasurer to King Henri IV. André had the château rebuilt, taking inspiration from the Château de Beaumarchais at Bretignolles, which belonged to his brother. In 1724 Françoise-Catherine Bouhier married Claude-Gilbert Robert de La Salle-Lézardière, and the estate entered the Lézardière family. The writer Pauline de Lézardière was born here. During the Revolution the baron was accused of involvement in a counter-revolutionary plot; the château was set on fire in 1791, one south-western tower was completely destroyed, and the property was sequestered until 1801. Another tower was demolished in 1848.

In 1805 the Lézardière family sold the domain to François-Armand Boux de Casson, a former lieutenant in Charette’s army. The Boux de Casson family retained it into the 20th century; Ludovic and Olivier Boux de Casson, both born at the château, became mayors of Challans, and François Boux de Casson (1908–1981), a former deputy, was a later owner. On 19 February 1973 the château is said to have served as a relay for the commando that removed Philippe Pétain’s coffin from the Île d’Yeu.

The façades and roofs were inscribed as a Monument historique in 1964. The building was restored in a Renaissance-inspired style in 1886 and converted into a hotel-restaurant in 1990. Since 2006 it has been owned by the Dutch couple Nienke Jansen and Arie Van Hoeven. Today it operates as a hotel with 21 rooms and a gîte, set in a 17-hectare park of gardens, woodland, ponds and marshes that supports local wildlife (including storks nesting on the chimneys). Facilities include an outdoor heated swimming pool and tennis courts. It offers a quiet, characterful retreat near Challans and the Vendée coast.