Château Sécession
Discovering abandoned castles, usually hidden behind high walls in a castleparc (or jungle after many years) is always fascinating. In a small pitoresque village in France we visited this authentic château, built in 1750 by a rich merchant. At first it was a house with only 1 floor. Around 1850 his son added pavilions at both sides, changed the facade and built extra floors. Unfortunately the castle didn’t escape WWII and it was occupied and bombarded by the Germans, a side pavilion still remains a ruin. In the 80s the château was sold to an experienced lawyer which allready abandoned it in 1985, apparantly he didn’t have the courage to start the renovation works. After an early jungle tour we entered the livingroom with American & New-Zealand flags and big canon threatening intruders. The remains of the last occupiers, furniture and personal belongings where left to rot. Further we walked up the impressive wrought iron staircase, a painting of the lawyer hung in the middle on the wall. In the hall of the second floor we saw beautifull wallpaintings and a decayed piano with carpets on the wall. The bedroom on the ground floor had a nice vintage lamp, fireplace and a massive bookshelf. This was one of the nicest abandoned castles we ever visited.