©Château de Peufeilhoux｜Château de Peufeilhoux

Château de Peufeilhoux and its gardens A dreamlike journey into an enchanted world

A jewel in the crown of Bourbonnais heritage, Château de Peufeilhoux sits atop a rocky outcrop overlooking the Cher valley and Tronçais forest. Fully furnished, it will transport you from the Middle Ages to the Belle Époque. You can also discover the cabinet of curiosities created by the owner’s great-grandparents, or the “Merveilles de la Nature” with its impressive naturalist collection.

Your visit will be punctuated by an organ concert.
Let yourself be surprised by the imaginary, fairytale worlds created by the owner around the château. A tribute to nature and the elements, with references to legends and fantasy worlds, the site promises a fabulous journey. Rose garden, orchidarium, witch’s lair, fairy wash, butterfly waterfall, African village and horse pond.

Postal address: Château de Peufeilhoux 03190 Vallon-en-Sully
Telephone: 04 70 05 20 24 – 06 61 64 16 68
E-mail: floridian@orange.fr

Getting there

What you'll love

©Château de Peufeilhoux｜Route Jacques Cœur

A château transporting you from the Middle Ages to the Belle Époque, with a concert featuring the Great Organs

Enchanting gardens (world gardens, French park, rose garden, orchidarium unique in France, etc.).

©Château de Peufeilhoux, Musée des Merveilles｜Route Jacques Cœur

Diversified exhibitions (Cabinet of Curiosities, Egyptian, Explorers and Michelangelo Museums)

See all activities

PASS Privilège

Take advantage of over €95 in cumulative savings on all PASS member and partner sites, so you can visit at a smart price!

Château de Peufeilhoux Privilege Pass price: €8 instead of €12 for the visit

Tour of the Château, museum and park, plus concert by the Grandes Orgues (concert from 4pm to 4:30pm)

Adult (14 years and over): €12
Reduced adult rate: €8
Children (aged 4 to 14): €8
Children’s group (more than 20 children): €5
Large families: €7/adult and €5/child
Disabled persons: €5

Guided tour in the afternoon.

Self-guided tour of the château’s interiors and exteriors with the Wivisites audioguide on your phone.

Timetable of historical activities

April (20th, 21st, 27th): 2pm-5pm – closes at 7pm

May (1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 18, 25, 29, 30): 2-6pm – closes at 8pm

June (every day except Saturday): 1pm-6pm – closed at 8pm

July – August (every day except Saturday): 10am-6pm – closed at 8pm

September (3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28): 2pm-6pm – closed at 8pm

October (October 5, 12, 19, 26 to November 2): 2pm-5pm – closed at 7pm

©Château de Peufeilhoux, The Mystery of the Egyptian Tomb｜Château de Peufeilhoux

©Château de Peufeilhoux, Musée Michel-Ange｜Château de Peufeilhoux

The Mystery of the Egyptian Tomb

Included in admission – Reconstruction of an Egyptian tomb with over 150 objects.

Michelangelo Museum

Included in the admission price – New for 2025.

The “Wonders of the World” Explorers’ Museum

Included in admission – 200m² exhibition room on the theme of the sea).

Entertainment program

Sunday August 17: Venice Festival

Sunday, September 21: 38 concerts

Thursday, October 30 to November 2: Halloween with shows

Sunday, December 14: arrival of Santa Claus

Reservations by phone 04 70 05 20 24

Practical info

Annual opening hours
APRIL
April 20, 21, 27 from 2pm to 5pm – closes at 7pm
MAY
May 1, 2, 4, 8, 11, 18, 25, 29, 30 from 2pm to 6pm – closes at 8pm
JUNE
daily (except Saturdays) from 1pm to 6pm – closes at 8pm
JULY – AUGUST
Open daily (except Saturdays) from 10am to 6pm – closes at 8pm
SEPTEMBER
3, 4, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28 from 2pm to 6pm – closes at 8pm
OCTOBER – NOVEMBER
October 5, 12, 19, 26 to November 2 2pm to 5pm – closing at 7pm
Access and transport
From the A71: exit n°9 “Forêt de Tronçais” and follow the signs for 4 km to find the château entrance on the right.
On the D2144 (Montluçon Bourges), follow the signs.
25km from Montluçon, 24km from Saint-Amand-Montrond and 80km from Bourges.
Hosting
Guest rooms and gîtes for rent all year round by reservation.
All our rooms are certified 5 épis by Gîtes de France.
Included in the price: two exceptional breakfasts, a guided tour of the château and its parks and gardens.
- Baron’s room
  With its alcove and 18th-century fireplace, and breathtaking view of the Forêt de Tronçais.
  Rate €125 / 2 people with buffet breakfast
  Possibility of adding a single bed. €30
- Chambre Shéhérazade
  Rate 155€ / 2 people with buffet breakfast
  Possibility of adding a single bed. 30€
- Louis XIII room
  Rate 155€ / 2 people with buffet breakfast
  Possibility of adding a single bed 30€.
- Marquise de Pompadour room
  Rate 155€ / 2 people with buffet breakfast
  Possibility of adding a single bed. 30€
- Suite Anne de Bretagne
  Two double rooms with buffet breakfast 289€ / 4 pers.
Information and reservations by phone 04 70 05 20 24 or by e-mail floridian@orange.fr
Events (weddings, seminars, etc.)
Château de Peufeilhoux has one of the highest ratings in all surveys, with 4.9/5. As far as weddings are concerned, it is the only château in the region to have received theAWARDS du mariage every year since 2016, which ranks it as the region’s No. 1 wedding venue for value for money and the beauty of the grounds.
Information and reservations by telephone on 04 70 05 20 24 or by e-mail at floridian@orange.fr
Means of payment
Credit card, cash, cheque.
Pets
No dogs allowed.
Host languages
Visitors welcome in French and English.
Reduced rates (on presentation of proof)
- Student
- Jobseeker
- Groups of +20 adults
- Pass Privilège Route Jacques Cœur
(click here to buy your Pass and benefit from reduced rates)
PMR accessibility
Accessible gardens, museums and château (except 1st floor).
Contact us

Photo gallery

Find out more about the location

Peufeilhoux: a fully restored and furnished château

Its exceptional succession of large reception rooms, all fully furnished, will transport you from the Middle Ages to the Belle Époque. You can also discover the cabinet of curiosities created by the owner’s great-grandparents. Collections of trophies, insects and shells stand side by side with period furniture carefully chosen by the current owner to refurnish this building, which has been transformed and abandoned many times.

Since 2018, discover the library’s fully restored 17th-century ceiling. During your visit, you’ll learn that the château’s walls were home to many celebrities at the beginning of the 20th century.

In 2022, rediscover the fully restored hunting entrance and grand salon!

Key periods

5th century: the Romans abandoned their oppidum, a few walls of which still remain on the rampart walk.
8th century: rocks are dug into the foundations of the ramparts, from which two armchairs with armrests in the middle still remain. According to Bâtiments de France, these two armchairs date back to the Carolingian period.
11th century: wooden keep surrounded by a palisade.
12th-13th century: wood replaced by stone (the foundations of this fortification still exist today).
14th-15th century: a small castle replaces the existing one, with a small fortification incorporating a dovecote still standing today and a corner tower.
15th-16th century: this small château changes ownership and, after extension work, becomes a "fief without justice" held by Lord Pierrebrune, esquire. His son took over in 1642 as Jacques de Pierrebrune, esquire, Seigneur de Puy Fouilloux with his wife Marie Du Buisson.
16th-17th: in 1634, Isabelle de Pierrebrune, daughter of Jacques and Marie, was baptized in the château chapel in the presence of her family André Du Buisson and Isabelle de Bron, and her husband Louis De Villelune, sieur de La Roche-Othon.
17th century: In 1675, it came under the ownership of Sieur Gilbert Jehanot des Pallières. Around 1700, Seigneur de Courtines Durand Villatte took over. From 1741, the château remained in the Villatte de Peufeilhoux family until 1920. In 1822, Jean Antoine Villatte de Peufeilhoux built Château de Fremnet as a "hunting lodge for Peufeilhoux".

Abandoned several times, forgotten in favor of the Château des Modières in Villebret and finally abandoned by the Villatte de Peufeilhoux family, who moved to Switzerland, the château began its long agony, becoming in part a beautiful romantic ruin. Mr. Michel Machart bought it in 1920 to restore it. At the time, it comprised almost 650 hectares of land and a dozen farms.

Under the direction of the greatest architect of the time, Monsieur Sappin des Raynaud, some thirty workers were employed for just over 7 years.

The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Machard married the Baron de La Rochette, and a lavish lifestyle continued until 1983. After the death of the owners, the furniture, tapestries and all the collections were sold at Drouot, and it was Crédit Agricole who bought all the land to sell the château with a farm and 20 hectares to Mr. and Mrs. Burstall, heirs to a major English bank.
After their bank crashed in 2001, the château was bought by a wealthy Dutchman who sold it 4 years later to a Belgian who, ruined, sold it to the current owner, Mr Claude Thévenin, in 2013.

When we bought this château, everything had to be restored, rebuilt or created.

Peufeilhoux, the only château in Central France to offer so many wonders

Before or after visiting the richly furnished rooms of the château, you can enjoy a signposted walk through 10 hectares of parkland and gardens surrounding the château, divided into 4 sections:

Les Jardins à la Française or à l’Anglaise, with a magnificent 100 m rose garden, the horse pond, an orquidarium unique in France with hundreds of orchids outside in the wild, and the walk through the double fortification.
Gardens of the World with Morocco, China, Kenya, Japan and Tibet. In preparation for the 2026 opening: Mexico.
The Fairy Gardens with the Puits des Amours, the Bassin des Chevaux, the Cascade des Papillons, the Allée Musicale with a new feature this year: the Trompettes de la Renommée, the Antre de la Sorcière with its small cinema, the Lavoir des Fées with its 2m mushrooms and the Salle des Trésors.
In the château’s outbuildings, discover the magnificent Musée des Merveilles, a veritable naturalist collection presented in settings representing the 5 continents, then a new feature in 2025, the Musée Michel-Ange, and finally the Egyptian Tomb with around a hundred objects collected by the château owner’s ancestors.

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