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The new owners, Monsieur Gugnon and his son, had the intention of building houses on the estate. However, Tabanac's mayor, Monsieur Fabre, retired glass artist and engraver, despite suffering from silicosis, continuously opposed the project in order to preserve the Château's character. After seven years, Messieurs Gugnon sold the property to the Peltier family in 1980. Since then, the Peltiers have restored the estate carefully respecting its special character.

The Château's differing architectural styles which mark the passing years lend to its elegance and unique charm. An Italian feel is created by the Genoese storehouse and its Tuscan columns found in the courtyard. The inner courtyard's patio is Spanish in style and the windows leading from the main house to the bishop's bedroom are Moorish - "Retour d'Egypte" (1813).

The window bays of the main house were originally arched. These were bricked up long ago and replaced in the eighteenth century by larger rectangular bays. However, an example of one of the original bays can still be seen in the library, but only from the inside!

The main house, flanked on both sides by two massive square towers surmounted by balustrades, is embellished by two turrets and a large square tower, all three roofed with slate. The terrace at the front of the house is decorated with a stone balustrade offered by Château Lacaussade in settlement for a lawsuit.

The bakery, situated next to the entrance gates and in which the oven is surmounted by a slate-roofed turret, was where Madame Fichot lived from 1948 for a few years until she died aged 94 years old. The staircase was built by Monsieur Giresse, a carpenter at Langoiran and grand-father of the famous footballer, Alain Giresse. He re-used the wood kept since 1936 from the old wine press when it was replaced by a "modern" wine press in steel and cement. It is one of the specialities of Château Sentout and certainly many other old properties to continually re-use its materials.

Continued...

Index