History
of the Château, Savigny-sous-Faye.
Moyse Emile de Cougny built the Château
at Savigny-sous-Faye, in the Vienne department, between
1830-1840 in the grounds of La Pinaudière. The
château is built in the renaissance style and
there are similarities to the Château d’Ussé
known as the “Sleeping Beauty” castle.
Moyse
Emile and his wife Marie-Adele had 3 daughters, Jeanne
Anna Marie, Therese Henriette and Maria Emilie. Moyse
Emile died in 1895 and there not being a male heir the
widow and her daughters sold the château to a
nephew/cousin, Baron Henri Emile Pierre de Cougny-Prefeln
on 18th December, 1911. This nephew/cousin was the son
of Moyse Emile’s brother, Armand de Cougny who had married
Henriette Goupil de Prefeln, daughter of Baron Goupil
de Prefeln of Normandy. Baron Goupil Prefeln had died
in 1847 leaving no male descendants and only one daughter,
Henriette Goupil de Prefeln who could not inherit the
title.
The
son of Armand and Henriette, Baron Henri Emile Pierre
(born 1862) applied to the authorities in 1887 to revive
the title of Baron and the name Prefeln from his grandfather
and this was granted. Baron Henri Emile Pierre Cougny-Prefeln
was in charge of cavalry at Lyon and Knight of the Legion
of Honour when he bought the château from his
aunt and cousins.
Around
1912 Baron Cougny-Prefeln built the square tower (back
left of the château) for the servants’ staircase
and embellished it with a clock under a monk’s head
and a motto in old French which roughly translated means
‘Every hour you have problems and ultimately you die’.
Not a very cheerful motto! On the other side of the
château (back right) he built another small square
tower.
The
‘Crown and CP’ in Salon 2 over the mirror is for Cougny
Prefeln, and they made a new Coat of Arms uniting the
Coats of Arms of the two families of Cougny and Prefeln.
The first and fourth quarters being from the Cougny
family and the second and third quarters from the Prefeln
family.
Baron Henri Emile Pierre married Jeanne Julie Marie
Bonneau du Chesne de Beauregard and they had a son,
Pierre François de Cougny who became a doctor.
Pierre François married Claudia Barropuand and
they had a daughter Jacquette Marie Antoinette in December,
1923. The purple beech tree at the side of the château
was planted the following year by her grandparents to
celebrate her birth.
Jacquette
Marie Antoinette married Louis Albert Charles de Moussac
and they had four children. The blank shield on the
side of the château was for Jacquette Marie Antoinette
to have her coat of arms but it was never completed.
During
the second world war German officers occupied the Château
for some months and the Cougny family had to move into
the outbuildings. In 1944 a family fleeing from Normandy
stayed for a while in the outbuildings (this, of course,
was after the Germans had left) because the wife was
about to have a baby. It is believed this baby was a
little boy because a man came to the Château in
2002 and said that he had been born at the Château
during the war whilst his parents were fleeing from
the Germans. This family wrote their names on the wall
of their room in the outbuilding and it is still there.
The
Cougny family had many important and well known ancestors
over the centuries. One of these Jean-Gustave de Cougny
born 1815 at Chinon lived at Château de la Grille
which is a well known vineyard. He became President
of the French Archeology Society. He also helped with
the organisation of the building of Château Savigny
for Moyse Emile de Cougny. He wrote many papers and
books about the history of Chinon, the architecture,
antiquities and archaeology. Les Amies du Vieux Chinon
have honoured Gustave de Cougny by placing his portrait
in their museum and naming one of the rooms after him.
In
the 1600’s other Cougny family members were barristers
at Parliament in Paris, nobles in the government and
in the service of the Kings. It is a very old, noble
French family with many branches.
Upon
the death of Baron Cougny-Prefeln in January, 1943 at
the age of 80 years his widow and grand-daughter Jacquette
Marie Antoinette, her husband and children continued
to live at the château and all her four children
were born there. In 1965 the family decided to sell
the château. The Cougny family had been at the
château for over 125 years.
The
château was sold on 1st September, 1965 to a couple
from Paris who retired to it with their adult son. They
kept the château until 1989 when it was sold on
30th June, 1989 to the present owners, Derek and Janet
Whitehead from England who have spent many years turning
it into a luxury hotel, dividing their time between
France and England.
Originally
almost all the land around Savigny-sous-Faye belonged
to the Cougny family, but over the years parts were
sold until today the château stands in 18 hectares
(45 acres) of woodland and park.
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