Only about five kilometers from Tournus, the castle of Préty is easy to reach. Originally, the property was  a wine domain. The actual structure of the castle stands in the place of an ancient roman villa, on the border of the village, where the romans used to quarry the stone. Initially, the buildings formed a square around a large courtyard.

The château was later separated from the outbuildings. After several major modifications, we find it today in the pure neo-classical style of the 1850’s, as a splendidly detailed symetrical building, with wonderful fireplaces, parquet floors, wainscotting and stuccoed ceilings, an impressive staircase in the pink stone quarried in the village and tall windows letting in a lot of light.

In the outbuildings were the indoors bread oven, where the baked goods were made for everyone living on the estate; the gardener’s house; the horse stables; the horse-drawn carriages and the Orangerie. In the 19th century, the estate lived in full autonomy, and we do our best to renew with the tradition so you can feel back in old times…

The park offers grand old trees, boxwood hedges,  pretty lawns, roses and lavender. Privately enclosed in a wall, past the impressive entrance gates, one enters an oasis of peace and natural beauty. The formal 19th century gardens now include a heated swimming-pool, nicely designed with its statue of Neptune and large terraces surrounded by flowerbeds.

Close to the formal gardens, the park takes airs of the English landscape garden, with sweeping views over a wide variety of rare trees; the children delight to play in this less formal area, with the treehouse, the swings, the small house and even a plane held on a cable.

The organic vegetable garden offers delicious produce you can pick to organise a nice picnic anywhere in the park. In late summer, the fruit trees abound with walnuts or figs. With a good bottle of wine, experience the pleasure of being in Burgundy, relaxing in a deckchair by the pool, or making plans to visit places of interest.

After years of emptiness, a new owner settled here in 1999 with the goal to keep the place alive in the tradition of the past. The château had long been in an aristocratic french family, the Canat de Chizy, who had no descendants. Today modern equipment has replaced the servants, and the land no longer produces income.   With a passion, the owner, a dutchman of french descent, works endlessly to improve every aspect of the property. A landscape architect by trade, he has found with the château a way to realise an old dream, and loves to share the wonderful environment and great lifestyle with his guests.