Thons Castle

Thons Castle

The Château des Thons, shaped like a "U," was built around 1603/1604. From 1917, during the First World War, the château served as lodgings for American officers. It was then that the history of the château took a dramatic turn...

One of the American officers seduces a local woman while her husband is still serving in the army. When the husband returns home on leave, he learns of his wife's infidelity and decides to take revenge by shooting her lover dead at the castle. 

When the war ended in 1918, the American officer's parents decided to buy "the place where their son had been killed."

The father was a multimillionaire financier, Ashbel Barney. Thanks to a special exemption from the French government, the right wing and the right side of the central section were dismantled stone by stone between 1924 and 1926.

Each stone, brick, tile, wooden panel, piece of furniture, sculpture, and interior ornament is individually marked and numbered. Everything is loaded onto a private steamship and sets sail for America.

French architect Charpentier was commissioned to rebuild the building on Long Island in 1927, with the help of around 100 master craftsmen and stonemasons from all over France, to turn it into a "French-style manor house."

This one is called Château des Thons, just like its twin that remains on our territory!

All that remains of the original Thon castle is the left wing and the left side of the central section.

Private property, please respect the premises