In safe hands

There can be few more unusual homes than the 11th-century Château de Clérans, situated close to the Dordogne river in the Périgord Pourpre region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine.

- AMANDA HARLING

The owner Joris van Grinsven, a Dutch interior designer and sculptor is somewhat out of the ordinary too.

Joris came to France nearly 20 years ago, settling in the sleepy and very picturesque village of Cause-de-Clérans where he bought a house to restore.

“I’d been living here for a few years working on my sculpture and design projects, when I was approached by the family who owned the ruined château which dominates the village,” he says.

The château was built in the 11th century but after the French Revolution the building fell into disrepair and people from all over the district raided it, using the stone as building material for their own houses.

Jacques Laurent, a member of a FrancoRussian noble family bought the property from the commune during the 1930s in order to protect it from further desecration.

By then, all that was left of the château were the surrounding walls, a 1,000-year-old tower 30 metres in height and a Renaissance chapel. Jacques ensured the fabric of the buildings suffered no further damage and repairs were undertaken when necessary in order to safeguard the historic site for the future.

After he died some years ago, his family took the decision to sell the château but naturally they were concerned that whoever took on the property would understand its importance and continue to look after the site.

“They’d seen how my house in the village had been restored and possibly that made them think I might be a suitable custodian for a building such as this, for that’s what I am,” said Joris. “I consider it a huge privilege to have been able to live in these historic surroundings, but now the time has come to move back to the Netherlands – once I have found the next custodian!”