Yes, this is going back a long way - nearly a decade - which is a very scary thought for me indeed.
Chateau Burrus, which for the longest time in UE circles was known as Chateau Lumiere, needs no real introduction as it's arguably one of, if not the, most iconic Euro Chateau explores that has ever existed. Maybe edged out by the frankly ruinous Belgian Chateau Noisy but that is a debate for another day.
The Chateau was constructed in 1900 for Maurice Burrus, boss of a local well known tobacco company, in a typically sleepy small French town near the border with Germany. It was built over three floors and featured a central light well with rooms arranged around it, and a stunning entrance hallway. Maurice Burrus lived in the Chateau until his death in 1959, whereby it passed into the hands of a religious organisation and then in later years a succession of private owners, before falling into a derelict state presumably some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Over the years it became an extremely popular location to see for explorers both from France, Belgium and much further afield because it was absolutely stunning, and I had always wanted to see it too, but the distance to travel through France was simply too great on my first few Euro trips back in the day.
However that all changed in July 2014 (my last 'proper' Euro trip) as we made Lumiere the first stop - driving from Calais through the summer night to ensure we got there at a half decent time. As it happened, we arrived in the town at around 8am just as people were beginning to wake up but we got into the grounds through the access I had already figured out beforehand, and like the best Euro explores, the front door was invitingly unlocked. We spent a few hours wandering undisturbed around the building and left with no bother, making tracks into Luxembourg to continue the trip. Shortly after my visit, either right at the end of 2014 or the start of 2015, some drunk local idiot smashed the stunning mirror in the entrance hallway and made a mess of other things, and in a really nice turn of events this was all swiftly cleaned up by Euro explorers to make it look less sad, which is vastly different to any sort of reaction you'd get over here it seems. This building decayed gracefully and stayed mostly intact (other than some more graffiti here and there) despite how well known it was right up until the start of 2022 when things changed.
In late 2021, Chateau Burrus was bought by new owners and as of today is nearly fully restored, with plans to begin holding weddings, seminars and other private events in the building from this summer. The coach house next to the Chateau has been completely renovated and you can actually now stay in it as a holiday let, I found the listing on the French Airbnb site the other day.
As those who went here can attest, it was extremely hard to get any decent external photos of the place due to the amount of undergrowth both close to the building and also along the entirety of the fence along the pavement but I gave it a shot.
Thanks for looking
Chateau Burrus, which for the longest time in UE circles was known as Chateau Lumiere, needs no real introduction as it's arguably one of, if not the, most iconic Euro Chateau explores that has ever existed. Maybe edged out by the frankly ruinous Belgian Chateau Noisy but that is a debate for another day.
The Chateau was constructed in 1900 for Maurice Burrus, boss of a local well known tobacco company, in a typically sleepy small French town near the border with Germany. It was built over three floors and featured a central light well with rooms arranged around it, and a stunning entrance hallway. Maurice Burrus lived in the Chateau until his death in 1959, whereby it passed into the hands of a religious organisation and then in later years a succession of private owners, before falling into a derelict state presumably some time in the late 1980s or early 1990s. Over the years it became an extremely popular location to see for explorers both from France, Belgium and much further afield because it was absolutely stunning, and I had always wanted to see it too, but the distance to travel through France was simply too great on my first few Euro trips back in the day.
However that all changed in July 2014 (my last 'proper' Euro trip) as we made Lumiere the first stop - driving from Calais through the summer night to ensure we got there at a half decent time. As it happened, we arrived in the town at around 8am just as people were beginning to wake up but we got into the grounds through the access I had already figured out beforehand, and like the best Euro explores, the front door was invitingly unlocked. We spent a few hours wandering undisturbed around the building and left with no bother, making tracks into Luxembourg to continue the trip. Shortly after my visit, either right at the end of 2014 or the start of 2015, some drunk local idiot smashed the stunning mirror in the entrance hallway and made a mess of other things, and in a really nice turn of events this was all swiftly cleaned up by Euro explorers to make it look less sad, which is vastly different to any sort of reaction you'd get over here it seems. This building decayed gracefully and stayed mostly intact (other than some more graffiti here and there) despite how well known it was right up until the start of 2022 when things changed.
In late 2021, Chateau Burrus was bought by new owners and as of today is nearly fully restored, with plans to begin holding weddings, seminars and other private events in the building from this summer. The coach house next to the Chateau has been completely renovated and you can actually now stay in it as a holiday let, I found the listing on the French Airbnb site the other day.
As those who went here can attest, it was extremely hard to get any decent external photos of the place due to the amount of undergrowth both close to the building and also along the entirety of the fence along the pavement but I gave it a shot.
Thanks for looking
