CASTLE LIFE: the Château du Claud, the history of the Boisgelin family

Le château peut être loué pour des événements. E.S. – Emma Stinellis

At the end of the 18th century, Boisgelin's ancestors inherited the estate, which still belongs to their descendants in Saint-Jean-de-Védas.

“My mother keeps the soul of the château alive”, this is how Paul de Boisgelin, son of Charlotte de Boisgelin and owner of the estate, emphasizes the important place that the family occupies in Le Claud. Indeed, since the château entered the family, he has never left it. A true family story that each of the eight generations has tried to perpetuate over the centuries.

The castle is inhabited and owned by the Boisgelin family. E.S. – Emma Stinellis

Generations follow one another

We must go back to the 18th century, when Gabriel Huc acquired the building. His son, Charles Huc, known as “Baron Huc”, had the castle built on the land in 1834. The centuries passed and in the 20th century, the last baroness of the Huc family, Marie Durand de Fontmagne, initially proposed to bequeath the Claud estate to her niece, after the death of her husband in 1907. Jeanne Durand de Fontmagne, the niece, announced to her godmother her wish to join the order of Sisters. She could therefore no longer inherit the estate and advised him to bequeath the building to his own goddaughter, Jacqueline Perret du Cray, grandmother of Paul de Boisgelin, who inherited in 1934. “Being too young at that time, it was his mother who would inherit the estate and lands while waiting for her daughter to be old enough to receive them”, explains Paul de Boisgelin. During the Second World War, the castle was requisitioned by the French army in 1939 and then occupied and ransacked by the German army.

The estate remained in the family

In 1958, Jacqueline moved to the estate, along with Louis de Boisgelin and their eight children. The couple took over the wine estate and restored the château. Later, after their parents died, Hubert, Jacques and Pierre de Boisgelin took over the wine estate and worked the thirty hectares of vines at Château du Claud in Saint-Jean-de-Védas and the twelve hectares based at Château Claud Bellevue in Saint-Georges-d'Orques. Today, Guillaume and Grégoire de Boisgelin have taken over the reins of the agricultural activity at Le Claud and Bellevue. The estate still belongs to the eight children of Louis and Jacqueline, in joint ownership: “The estate still belongs to our family,” explains Paul de Boisgelin,” but the owner of the estate is my mother, Charlotte”, he emphasizes.

The owner is Charlotte de Boisgelin. E.S. – Emma Stinellis

Several activities

Paul de Boisgelin is the manager of the château. In addition to the wine-growing activity, the estate offers accommodation and rentals for the year or for special occasions. In addition, market gardening and breeding Aubrac cows complete the activities. “The castle is divided into three levels. The park can also be rented. Everything can be rented together or separately. We do this in addition to wine or fruit and vegetables, it diversifies the estate,” he explains. The Domaine le Claud is above all a family affair. Passed down from generation to generation, its history and its vines have spanned the ages.