The Chateau de Pompignan is a mid-18th century chateau standing on a terrace above the village of Pompignan, Tarn-et-Garonne, which lies on the old Paris road (now the D820), about 25 km north-west of Toulouse, France.
Of some literary and historical interest because of the association with its builder, Jean-Jacques Lefranc, the first Marquis de Pompignan, the chateau is noteworthy today for containing in its grounds a good example, though in neglected and dilapidated condition, of a parc à fabriques - a landscape garden with architectural constructions and hydraulic systems (together known in English as follies).
Acquired by its present owner in 1990, the chateau itself is in good repair, though sparsely furnished, as it serves to house the owner's collection of keyboard instruments. This may be the largest private collection in France of keyboard instruments from around the world. Refurbishment work on the chateau is in progress with the object of creating a permanent museum to display this collection to the general public. Within the grounds, a deconsecrated church provides a 200-seat concert hall, and in recent years international piano competitions have been held there.
In May 2011, a decision was taken to route the proposed new TGV line from Bordeaux to Toulouse through the grounds of the chateau. While the building itself and its entrance lodge have been listed as a historic monument since 1951, and classified as such since 1972, the protection does not extend directly to the remainder of the park or its contents.
Description of the chateau
The village of Pompignan is located a day's journey (25 km) from Toulouse on the natural road along the right bank of the Garonne to Bordeaux, and it was a way stop even in pre-Roman times. Its name is derived from Pompinianum, the domain of Pompinius, a notable of the Gallo-Roman era, whose villa was sited on the edge of the hillside about a kilometer south of the present chateau. There is evidence to suggest that a ninth-century feudal manor house existed on or close to the present chateau site. The modern village grew up at the foot of the chateau in the time of the Lefrancs, and its layout and facilities were shaped by the needs and gifts of the owners.
The chateau was built on the foundations of the existing manor house in the emerging neo-classical style, similar in some respects to the Petit Trianon at Versailles (built between 1762 and 1768, a few years later than Pompignan). However, while the fenestration proportions are similar, the facades at Pompignan are much less ornate, relying for their decorative effect on brickwork details, the play of colour between brick and rendering, and on the indentations produced by the short nibs at the centre and either end of the main (south-eastern) façade. Both buildings are oriented towards views of landscape gardens, but Pompignan was planned as such, whereas the hameau at the Petit Trianon was added twenty years afterwards, by a different architect and patron.
The terrace on which the chateau sits, some ten to twenty metres above the village, is girdled with a massive brick retaining wall, in good condition, which is a listed item in the protection notices.
Lefranc’s chateau is built on a stone base, mainly from pink Toulouse brick, with delicate use of gray render to achieve a tawny effect in good light. It is carefully oriented (along a northwest-southeast axis) to take advantage of existing natural views created by its position on a terrace overlooking the valley of the Garonne to the west and the rising hillside to the east. Nearly all the windows, and the terraces on three sides, provide excellent views. The fourth side consists of a library with clerestory and stained-glass windows, and it overlooks the entry gate-lodge, farm buildings and church.
The plan of the chateau is a rectangle of some 18m by 50m, with a semi-circular two-story bay on the north side. A sketch of the facade dating from 1802 shows a one-story columned semi-circular portico at the central nib, and a one-story bay extension to the southern nib. These are no longer in place.
The monuments listings (refs 4 and 5 below) note "... [a] ground floor, two tiled floors, an attic floor ..." and "... a semi-circular part on the north facade which was once occupied by a theater." Although undocumented here, there is also an extensive basement level. The 'habitable' floor area, at 2,700 sqm without counting the bay, is almost twice that of the Petit Trianon, and more than half that of the Grand Trianon.