Château de Beauregard, seen from the park. Castles and Country Houses · Valcourt Château de Beauregard came into view beyond the trees, its pale walls and steep roofs warmed by the morning sun. From the carriage window, Adèle de Valcourt studied the building while Pascal Bertin folded away the map…
Category: Castles and Historic Houses
Castles, palaces, villas and historic houses seen through Adèle’s watercolours and curiosity. Each place becomes the beginning of a story: who built it, who lived there, what events unfolded within its rooms, and what traces of those lives have remained over time.
Adèle on Her Travels
The Return to Vignolette
A House, a Lifetime, and Many Memories The carriage had left the main road some time ago and was making its way along an avenue lined with tall trees. Through the windows came glimpses of meadows and small woods, and now and then an old stone wall almost lost beneath…
Adèle on Her Travels
The Gondola of Chenonceau
A Venetian night on the Cher in 1886: Marguerite Pelouze turns Chenonceau into an imagined Venice of art, music, politics and memory.
Adèle on Her Travels
Chenonceau and Its Many Lives
Chenonceau, 1877 Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — images created for VALCOURT from historic photographs of Chenonceau. Adèle saw Chenonceau long before she reached it. The château appeared at the far end of the long tree-lined avenue, pale in the light of a summer morning, as though it had…
Adèle on Her Travels
The Stones of Maubuisson
Maubuisson, 1880 Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — watercolours created for VALCOURT from period photographs of Maubuisson Abbey. They had not gone to Maubuisson for history. At least, Armand had not. La Griffonnière needed good stone for several repairs in the grounds. A section of the old wall had…
Armand, Napoleon and His Museum
Pierre-de-Bresse — When Bonaparte Was Still a Dinner Guest
Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — images created for VALCOURT. Adèle had almost finished the sky over Pierre-de-Bresse when Armand came into the studio. On the table, between the paint box and several still-damp sheets, lay the old photograph of the château; before her, the watercolour was slowly turning…
Castles and Historic Houses
Five Castles for Clémence
Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — image created for VALCOURT. Freccia is recreated from a private photograph. The letter from Clémence de Villiers arrived at La Griffonnière together with a stiff portfolio secured by a cream-coloured ribbon and an amount of string that Adèle immediately considered wildly disproportionate to…
Adèle on Her Travels
Bonnétable — The Castle Reflected
Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — watercolours and iconographic reconstructions created for VALCOURT Watercolour created for VALCOURT from historical iconographic sources relating to the Château de Bonnétable. Adèle came to Bonnétable for a reason that, at least to begin with, had very little to do with castles. Armand had…
Adèle on Her Travels
Brodick — The Castle Found in a Photograph
Text and concept by Enzo Favaro — images created for VALCOURT. In 1897, Adèle bought a castle for a few francs. Not the castle itself, of course, but a photograph. She had found it at the bottom of a portfolio of British views, among abbeys, lakes, ruins and great houses…
Castles and Historic Houses
The Walls Remember — Château de Conros
Arpajon-sur-Cère, 1897 The château appeared beyond a bend in the road, just when Adèle had almost stopped looking for it. The carriage from La Griffonnière had been moving slowly for some time. The road was not a bad one, but Adèle had asked the coachman not to hurry the horses:…