Château de la Faye

Château de la Faye stands roughly 550 metres northeast of the old village of Saint-Sulpice-de-Mareuil, a hamlet now folded into the commune of Mareuil en Périgord in the Dordogne department.

Where exactly is the château located?

The building sits in the northwestern quarter of Dordogne, within the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, oriented along a northwest-to-southeast axis. Its coordinates fall close to 45.4685° N, 0.5137° E. Saint-Sulpice-de-Mareuil lost its status as an independent commune back in 2017, when it merged with several neighbouring villages to form Mareuil en Périgord. Because of that administrative change, older references still list the château under Saint-Sulpice-de-Mareuil, while newer ones place it under Mareuil en Périgord — both point to the same spot on the map.

What does the building actually look like?

A residential block sits between two flanking pavilions. The northern pavilion is the older of the two, dating to the Renaissance, and is easy to spot thanks to its mullioned stone windows — a cross-shaped window frame typical of sixteenth-century French country houses. The property grew in two distinct waves: the core structure went up in the 1500s, then a seventeenth-century campaign extended the château into the larger layout visitors would recognize today. That two-stage construction history explains why the wings show noticeably different stonework despite forming a single continuous façade.

Who owned the estate over the centuries?

The recorded history stretches back to 1486, when François de Maillard married Agnès de Puyzilhon, sister of Jehan de Puyzilhon, lord of the fiefs of La Faye and La Sauguie. Jehan de Puyzilhon passed those fiefs down to the Maillard family, specifically to the couple's younger son, also named Jehan. The estate then stayed within the Maillard line for centuries. A major shift came in 1921: following the death of Edmond de Maillard, the land and château passed by inheritance to Colonel Grant de Luxolière de Bellussière, ending more than four hundred years under a single family name.

Is there anything else worth noting on the grounds?

A stone cross bearing the carved date 1642 stands at the entrance to the park. This modest but historically significant feature was officially listed as a monument historique on 5 January 1948 — notably, it is the cross itself, not the residential building, that carries formal heritage protection under France's monument register.

Can visitors go inside?

Château de la Faye remains privately owned, so it is not open to the public on a regular basis. It does occasionally feature in the local programme for Journées du Patrimoine (Heritage Days), when owners sometimes open the grounds or the park approach for a limited window. Anyone planning a visit should check that year's published programme in advance, since participation varies from one edition to the next.

Frequently asked questions

Is this the same Château de la Faye as the other estates sharing that name in Dordogne? No. Several unrelated buildings across the region carry the name Château de la Faye, including ones in Auriac-du-Périgord, Deviat, and Olmet. The château described here sits specifically on the former territory of Saint-Sulpice-de-Mareuil, now part of Mareuil en Périgord.

How old is the château? Its oldest surviving section, the northern pavilion, dates to the Renaissance period (sixteenth century), while the seventeenth-century extension gave the building its current overall shape.

Does the château carry official heritage protection? The formal monument historique listing covers the 1642 stone cross at the park entrance, registered on 5 January 1948 — the residential building itself does not carry a separate listing.

How far is it from the centre of Mareuil en Périgord? The château lies about 550 metres northeast of the former village centre of Saint-Sulpice-de-Mareuil, which today functions as one of the constituent hamlets of the wider commune of Mareuil en Périgord.