Château de Louvignies

Description

"Château de Louvignies", a castle 6km from #Soignies (Hainaut), became a lordship in 1389 and was rebuilt in 1716 by Rodrigo de Peralta. It passed to the Villegas family in 1798 via marriage. In 1834 an English landscape park was laid out, but the estate’s grand transformation came after 1870 under Count Léon de Villegas de Saint-Pierre. Architect Désiré Limbourg and landscaper Louis Fuchs drained moats, planted 600 trees, created a pond with bridges, built a chapel, stables, and ice house. Between 1878-1882 the castle was massively enlarged: tower raised, south wing doubled, new state rooms, grand porch entrance, sweeping staircase with family crest railings, modern baths, dumbwaiters, central heating, and electricity.