“I was committed to saving the castle over twenty, even thirty years. » Édouard Guyot, 31, can be satisfied. Even if there are still rooms to restore inside the Château de Vaux, about thirty minutes southeast of Troyes (Aube), the young investor ultimately only took nine years to complete the major work. work, including barely four years of actual construction. Volunteers, patrons, heritage stakeholders and public financiers united around the owner. The egg hunt open to the public which will be held there during these three days of the Easter weekend will demonstrate this. And that's just the beginning.
It must be said that Édouard Guyot has someone to take after: he belongs to an authentic family of “castle saviors”. “Since the 1970s and 1980s, my parents have been restoring castles in France,” says the young man. These are often very large residences that are completely abandoned, somewhat clogged projects in which communities or private owners are no longer able to get by. We modestly try to bring new ideas by rolling up our sleeves, with teams of volunteers who help us. » We find the Guyot touch in Yonne, in Saint-Fargeau and Guédelon, in Dordogne, in Bridoire, Marzac and Tiregant, or even in Loiret, in La Ferté-Saint-Aubin and Saint-Brisson.
Also read: At the Guyot family, we renovate the castles!
“We really define ourselves as heritage fighters. We fight to try to make our projects known, to save these houses that we are restoring,” summarizes Édouard Guyot, contaminated by family passion. However, initially, the young man did not seem destined to follow in the footsteps of his parents, uncles and brothers and sisters. “At the age of 18, I set up a company selling decorative objects and garden furniture, which I then sold to a friend who introduced me to the Château de Vaux.” A crossed destiny which led him to visit the site in 2014, then put up for sale by its previous owners, near the town of Fouchères.
More than 3 million euros of titanic work was carried out until the end of 2023 on the exterior and structures of the Château de Vaux in Fouchères (Aube), without altering the charm of the place. LP/Jonathan Sottas
At the age of 21, Édouard fell in love with this castle, classified as a Historic Monument, designed in the 18th century by the architect of Louis a place of elegance and good living under the Ancien Régime! » Seized during the Revolution, the castle was then sold in 1855 to Charlemagne-Emile de Maupas (1818-1888), Paris police prefect and instigator of Napoleon III's coup d'état. “A central character in the History of France,” underlines Edouard Guyot. “He lived here, he did a lot of work and settled his family for almost three generations before the last branch completely abandoned it, just before the war, in 1934.”
“A house of cards on the verge of collapsing”
Nearly 80 years later, in 2015, during the actual buyout financed 100% by a loan of €500,000, the young owner can only note the dilapidation of the premises. “500 broken tiles, open windows, a completely abandoned building and almost worse than in a state of ruin, since all the floors were supported by wooden structures, props which held this house of cards on the verge of collapse. »
After some initial investments, the bulk of the work finally began in 2019, thanks to the help of a heritage architect and obtaining financial aid from the State and the Region. More than 3 million euros of titanic work was carried out until the end of 2023 on the exterior and structures, without altering the charm of the place: “It was necessary to save and stabilize the levels which "collapsed inside, later restore the ceilings and interiors, redo an entire framework and a new roof, redo the doors and windows so that the castle is out of air and out of water", explains Édouard Guyot.
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The new chatelain was supported by his relatives to self-finance this project, through activities linked to the history of the place. “We are well aware that these castles are not ideal places to go out. For 20 years, our family has been offering activities and experiences around these buildings, which constitute extraordinary natural settings. » In Vaux, there is an escape game renewed every year around the personality of the famous prefect, a Hunting and Nature festival which attracts 15 to 20,000 visitors in the summer.
After the egg hunt open to young and old alike which launches the season at Easter time, we are waiting for the new “immersive” event planned for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings on June 29 and 30. “We will also honor the Liberation of Aube in 1944, with a costume ball in the evening, in period dress, and a giant decor in the courtyard and in the park of the castle,” announces Édouard Guyot.
This year, we are renovating the Grand Salon!
Because if the structural work is finished, the restoration of the castle will continue inside, in order to consolidate the economic interest of the site: tourism, seminars, parties and weddings will only be able to increase the number of visitors who are established. to 25,000 today. “We are currently restoring all the interiors, at the rate of one room per year, on the ground floor and the first floor,” explains Édouard Guyot. This year, it's the large living room, the most important and most beautiful room in the entire property. We bought magnificent furniture, we put back a gigantic chandelier bought in another castle, we redid all the wall decorations, the parquet floor, the ceilings, the gilding, the fireplace. It's from A to Z! » Édouard Guyot hopes to make the Château de Vaux the new wonder of the Aube department. It promises.