Château de la Verrerie

Weddings and large receptions for up to 200 guests, with the whole château to yourselves for the weekend, and group meals for companies of 20 to 35 can be organised at the Château de la Verrerie, a Renaissance château on a lake in the forests of the Berry, at Oizon in the Cher.

Seminars and company events

The château does not advertise seminars or meeting rooms. Companies and associations can book group meals for 20 to 35 people in the Maison d'Hélène, an 18th-century house in the park, and combine them with a guided visit of the château for groups of 15 or more. The estate also organises day hunts with a reception and residential hunting stays.

Weddings and receptions

For a wedding the château is privatised for the couple, their family and guests from Friday at 18:00 until Sunday at 15:00. Dinner takes place in the Grande Galerie des Stuart, which opens onto the courtyard of honour. The cocktail can be served in the courtyard, where tents can be put up for buffets, or in the Galerie de la Chasse, and the park and the garden by the lake give a quieter setting for photographs. Options include a candlelit dinner in the historic dining room on the eve of the wedding, the two state salons on the wedding day, and a brunch in the Stuart gallery and courtyard the next morning. The château, the courtyard, the avenue and the car parks are lit for the evening, and a night watchman is on duty. Smaller receptions are discussed by phone.

Rooms and capacities

The Grande Galerie des Stuart seats up to 160 for dinner. The Galerie de la Chasse takes a cocktail or adds 40 covers to the gallery dinner, which brings a seated dinner to about 200. The historic Grande Salle à Manger seats up to 50. The wedding hire is planned for 150 to 200 guests, and the site has a large car park, a cloakroom and guest toilets.

Accommodation

The apartment in the Renaissance wing has eight bedrooms for 15 people, with its own entrance, a lounge, a dining room and service rooms. It is rented with the wedding hire and also for family weekends, short breaks and longer holidays. Other guests will need hotels in the surrounding towns.

Catering

The château does not set out its catering policy online. Ask which caterers work in the galleries and the courtyard.

History and setting

In 1422 Charles VII granted the county of Aubigny, including La Verrerie, to Jean Stuart, Constable of Scotland. Around 1475 his grandson Béraud Stuart began a hunting residence, and around 1525 Robert Stuart added the Renaissance wing with its nine arcades. A small glassworks by the lake, demolished in 1815, gave the château its name. When the last Stuart of Aubigny died in 1670 the estate returned to the Crown, then went to Louise de Kéroualle in 1673 and to the Dukes of Richmond. In 1842 it was sold to Léonce, Marquis de Vogüé, ancestor of the present owners, and in 1895 the family restored and enlarged it, with a south wing by Ernest Sanson. The whole château has been protected as a historic monument since 1986.

Getting there

The address is Château de la Verrerie, 18700 Oizon, in the Cher, in the Berry region. The château sits in a large forest on the edge of its lake, and guests arriving by train will need a car or a shuttle for the last stretch.