Château de Kernévez
Saint-Pol-de-Léon
Private property. Castle visible from the outside along the GR34 hiking trail (portion of the trail named “Promenade du Petit-Nice”). Park open during the National weekend “Les Rendez-vous aux Jardins” in June and European Heritage Days in September.
The Château de Kernévez was built for the Guébriant family just after 1850. It stands on the site of the ruins of Villeneuve castle. Froelicher, a Parisian architect designed the castle and he drew inspiration from the neoclassical style. The castle’s 37-hectare grounds extend down down to the sea, the park was designed by Buhler, a landscape gardener who also signed the plans for Boulogne wood. The use of Parisian designers reflects a break from the tradition of local architecture. It has a large variety of trees, a rose garden, the ruins of Kerliviry chapel, superb stables made of granite slabs, a pond and a dolmen in blocks of schist.
During the second half of the 19th century in the Léon region, there were a dozen a smallholdings called ” de Guébriant farms”. They answered to a specific model, with a specific lay-out designed for hygiene purposes. The farm, along the “Allée Verte (“Green Alley”), is a typical example. Granite was the mandatory building material for its neat finish and austere style. The material was used for both the main house and the surrounding buildings.
Today the property is registered.