Historical Precedent: The Classical French Chateau design characteristics

How to create a French style castle château design based on historical examples

CLASSICAL PRECEDENT AND COMPROMISE: THE FRENCH CHATEAU  

The castles and mansions of nobility and the crown have been inspirations for luxury home building throughout the centuries.  The task of creating suitable living spaces based conceptually on the structures built from Medieval times through the early 20th centuries has been a difficult goal for architects.  Observing the entirely stone built walls with heavy timbered roofs and carved stone and decorative hand worked masonry and metal details, high ceilings and flamboyant gilted interiors one realizes the enormous cost of materials and manpower that is entailed to replicate or duplicate the same.
So... a measure of compromise must be taken to scale down enormous roof heights, thick walls, towering fireplaces, heavy doorways and more.
Realize that the lesser chateaux built by French nobility during the Renaissance still had nearly a third of their spaces and amenities dedicated to the king's visits with his accompanying staff and servants.  An enormous 'pile' is Vaux le Vicomte (left and below) outside of Paris, built by one of the king's finance ministers.
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Marked by symmetry, a view taken from the Renaissance, most chateaux built afterwards were not for defensive purposes but for pure pleasure.  A large part of Vaux is dedicated to staterooms with the remainder of the house for the owner.  A key feature of the interiors is a completely elliptical Great Room (see photo left)  which we have incorporated in several of our plan designs.

The grounds (above) in this example are quite extensive with parterres and waterworks, gazebos, gardens, etc.  Notice in the foreground the extensive construction to house horse and buggy, livery, visiting staff and garden worker quarters, etc.
As you can see, the massive construction and site development are quite beyond the modern budget and so some measure of compromise must be taken.

Identifying the French Castle Chateau

Thick towering walls cased with limestone and stone exterior detailing, high pitched slate roofs with optional cresting and finials, multiple chimneys, classical features from Italian models, the segmental arch when used as opposed to the full half round, pediments, large windows with center support, and opulent interiors with stone floors, carved stone and plaster moldings, inventive ceilings, etc. -- all are features found in the chateaux of the high nobility and these same ideas are used in France for smaller country homes.  The French luxury home in other lands borrows essential imagery but translates into a more palatable residence for the modern owner.  Interiors are formal in the larger castles but can be scaled and designed for a more 'casually elegant' contemporary lifestyle.

What exactly inspires you?  If the time is right let's get started!

The video at left is a good first look at how French ideas are translated into a beautiful luxury home that incorporates many of the characteristics we have introduced above.

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MasterWorks Design International, Inc.
7491 Conroy Windermere Road
Orlando Florida 32835
​407 421 6647
johnhenryarchitect@gmail.com