History & Introduction

Situated a dozen kilometres from AIX-EN-PROVENCE, in the vicinity of Puyricard, thirteenth and seventh century Château du Seuil is one of the many beautiful architectural accomplishments of this region.

History & Introduction

The only decoration on an otherwise simple façade is the central door, of which a pediment and the Michaëlis coat of arms crown the frame. Beautiful Louis XIII joinery is surmounted by a slender lustrous wooden impost.

The warm tones of the roughcast, evoking stonework, unify the different parts of the building.

Paving similar to that of the Pavillon Trimont extends over the courtyard. It terminates at an oak woodland that is joined, from the east, by a large pathway leading to the cellar itself.

The Michaëlis, a powerful parliamentary family of Aix, took ownership of Le Seuil during the return of Provence to France, and it was here that they established their summer residence.

In the seventeenth century, Paul de Michaëlis was elevated to the status of lord, and became honorary counsellor to the king in the Court of Accounts and Finances. According to documentation dating from that period, this title gave him permission to apply the term “château”.

It was at the beginning of the 1970’s that the Carreau Gaschereau family settled at Château du Seuil. A family of jurists and members of the sovereign counsel of Martinique since the beginning of the eighteenth century until the extension of new jurisdictions (court appeals) in 1828.