Candé Castle

Château life in Touraine during the Roaring Twenties:
At the very beginning of the 16th century, on the site of the original royal fortress, François Briçonnet, Master of the King's Treasury, had a luxurious pleasure pavilion built in pure Renaissance style. In the mid-19th century, Santiago Drake del Castillo, an Anglo-Spanish aristocrat of Cuban origin, undertook a further transformation of the residence according to the plans of Jacques-Aimé Meffre, a renowned architect from Tours. The château's surface area was thus tripled, in the Neo-Gothic style then in vogue.
In the 20th century, Charles Bedaux, a Franco-American billionaire, equipped the château with ultra-modern amenities and introduced a sumptuous touch of 1930s style by having all the bathrooms decorated with glass mosaics. The new layout of some rooms was designed by the talented architect Henri Lafargue. An exceptionally crafted organ was installed in the new library, while in the basement, a telephone exchange unique in France was built. On June 3, 1937, the Duke of Windsor, formerly Edward VIII, married the American Wallis Simpson there, for whom he had just renounced the throne.

In 1951, Charles Bedaux's widow donated Candé to the Presidency of the Republic, which then transferred it to the General Council of Indre-et-Loire in 1974.

The tour immerses visitors in the daily lives of the illustrious residents of the 1930s: the library, which boasts an exceptional organ case; the music room and dining room; Fern Bedaux's bedroom; Charles Bedaux's study; and the bathroom adorned with Art Deco mosaics. The estate, spanning over 250 hectares, a veritable haven of greenery surrounding the château, boasts remarkable flora and fauna (60 roe deer, 150 diverse and rare bird species), a heronry, ponds, and more.

Photo copyright: C. Raimbault-cg37