Today
The castle was built at the center of a wooded domain of approximately 150 hectares. Walks in the forest and the woods are quite agreeable and allow one to discover the great variety of flora: the American oaks, hornbeams, robinias, the chestnut trees… as well as the fauna, as it is not rare to encounter a few deer, pheasants or other animals.
An English style park, laid out by Montesquieu, surrounds the castle with its vast lawns and its ornamental trees: boxwood, viburnum, forsythia, althea…. A large pathway crosses the garden and leads to a XIXth century farm building, built away from the castle, which contained during Montesquieu's time "a vast menagerie (space where animals and fowls were fed) in three united buildings."
Three walkways permit the discovery of the façade, covered with a white rosebush, and access to the castle. Beyond, in the park, a sundial, and the soft forms of a meadow constrast avec the "gothic" aspect of the castle (as Montesquieu described it). Inside the castle, the second floor offers several vantage points allowing one to appreciate this harmonious and peaceful setting.
Montesquieu and his domain
« O rus quando te aspiciam » "Oh countryside, when will I see you again", such was Montesquieu's desire to return to the domain which was so dear to him. Montesquieu had this quotation from Horace engraved above the first doorway allowing access to the castle and "Deliciae domini" "The delights of the master" above the second doorway.
Montesquieu, writer and philosopher, is also a landholder. Upon the passing of his father and his uncle, he inherits their numerous properties among which is the Barony of La Brède. Montesquieu devotes himself to the exploration of his lands and more specifically of his viticulture properties. He loves to wander the vines, see the grapes grow and ripen, and he remains quite attentive to the evolution of his production, which is an important source of income.
Quite attached to his domain, Montesquieu takes effort to protect it from poaching and to embellish it. Inspired by the English gardens he discovered during his voyages, Montesquieu decides to layout an English style park around the castle. In one of his letters, he relates to his friend the Abbey Guasco:
"Wouldn't you like to see […] the castle of La Brède, that I have so greatly remodelled since you have last seen it? It is the finest rural space that I know."
