Château de Merville can host weddings, company receptions, cocktails, incentive events and film shoots, for up to 200 seated guests. Receptions use a 300-square-meter hall with brick walls and an exposed timber roof, terraces facing a boxwood garden and the château's inner courtyard. The estate is in Merville, in the Hauts Tolosans area, about 20 minutes northwest of Toulouse.
Seminars and company events
The château rents its spaces to companies for receptions, cocktails, incentive events and shoots. The official corporate page lists the same spaces as for weddings and does not describe meeting equipment, so the venue suits a company dinner, a party or a client reception better than a working seminar. Guests can add a visit of the maze or of the 18th-century state rooms, which are open to the public with guided tours from spring to autumn.
Weddings and receptions
Weddings are the main private use of the venue. The hall takes a dinner of up to 200 seated guests, and the drinks reception can be held in the courtyard or on the terraces. Rooms are rented empty: couples choose their own caterer and furniture. A catering area with a cold room is provided, and a children's area can be set up on request. On the Sunday morning, guests can visit the park or the château.
A three-room apartment of 90 square meters, on the ground floor of the outbuildings' courtyard, sleeps six and suits the couple or their family. It is rented for a minimum of two nights, Friday to Sunday.
Rooms and capacities
The reception hall covers 300 square meters in two connected areas that are always hired together. The Salle Chalvet covers 110 square meters and seats 110. The Salle Bernuy covers 180 square meters and seats 200. In front of the Salle Bernuy, an outdoor terrace of 280 square meters leads to the boxwood garden.
Two outdoor spaces belong to the château itself. The inner courtyard, open to the sky, covers about 600 square meters inside the U formed by the building. The large east-facing terrace behind the château covers 800 square meters and looks over the boxwood garden and the landscaped park.
Accommodation
The only accommodation on site is the 90-square-meter apartment for six people. Other guests need hotels in the area.
Catering
There is no in-house catering. The organizer brings the caterer and furniture of its choice and uses the catering area and cold room next to the hall.
History and setting
The marquis de Chalvet built the château in 1743. His son, André-Antoine, was jailed during the Terror but kept both his life and the house, which is why Merville still holds its original furniture and decoration: Flemish tapestries from the late Renaissance, rococo consoles and overdoor paintings attributed to the circle of Jean-Baptiste Van Loo. The house later passed to the Villèle family and then, by inheritance, to the marquis de Beaumont du Repaire, ancestor of the current owners, who still live there.
The château and its park are listed as historic monuments, and the maze holds the Jardin Remarquable label. The boxwood maze is described as the largest in Europe.
Getting there
Event guests arrive by the upper drive, reserved for residents, weddings and receptions; day visitors use the maze entrance at 1175 chemin de Grande Borde, 31330 Merville. A large free car park is available on site.
