Château de Pontié has a long history that could be summed up by the phrase “roots and wings”.
Pontié, the place of our roots: from 700,000 to 200,000 years ago, prehistoric man inhabited this Middle Terrace of the Garonne.
They carved the quartzite pebbles left by the floods to make tools: bifaces, axes, scrapers … . These can be found in freshly ploughed fields.
Pontié, the place where the wings of the future are invented: Cornebarrieu is home to a number of aeronautical subcontractors. It borders Blagnac, home to Airbus headquarters and its Jean-Luc Lagardère factories, as well as prestigious companies such as Latécoère, Safran, ATR and Thalès Cryogénie…
The Château de Pontié and its grounds are a place of serenity surrounded by a hundred hectares of enclosed farmland. Airbus executives, among others, used to gather here for management and work seminars.
Like many of these large country houses, Pontié is the result of successive developments, each generation leaving its mark.
The main body of the castle dates from the first half of the 17th century and underwent major alterations in the 19th century. The presence of three fire hydrants and certain structural elements attest to the defensive functions of an earlier construction, probably a fortified farm built at the time of the Wars of Religion, of which only these remains remain.
The castle appears in the form it does today on the Cassini maps (drawn up between 1757 and 1790).
It was in 1899 that the great-grandparents of Chantal de Malefette, the current owner, bought Pontié. She inherited the property at the age of 18 following the death of her father.
Five years later, she married Gilles de Thierry de Faletans.
Since then, they have devoted their entire lives to bringing Pontié to life, while remaining attentive to the world around them. Gilles was mayor of his commune for 39 years.
Chantal de Malefette’s family gave a Capitoul to the city of Toulouse. From 1147 to 1789, these notables, eight and then twelve in number, managed the city.
Chantal’s mother came from a large Dutch family, the van Nispen tot Sevenaer, who were members of the Gotha. This is the origin of the Gustavian furniture in the Grey Room. Her ancestor was also Anselme du Breuille. This knight took part in the First Crusade in 1096, which ended with the capture of Jerusalem on 15 July 1099.
Like all French people, the Faletans have distant origins. They are descended from the Peppinid family (Arnoul 582-640). From this family came the Carolingian dynasty with Charles Martel (688-741). The most famous Carolingian is Charlemagne. Originally from Franche-Comté, the Faletans family takes its name from the village of Falletans near Dôle.
It gave the Order of Saint George of Burgundy, which the lords of Faletans joined in 1487, a Governor in the person of Claude-Louis de Falletans (1679).
In April 1712, King Louis XIV established the lands and seigneuries of Bussy, Thiéfrans, Larnoz and Fontenelles in Franche-Comté as a marquisate under the name of Falletans.
More recently, Nicolas, Marquis de Faletans (1842-1888) married Princess Olga Narychkine and divided his time between Paris and Saint Petersburg. He divorced her and Olga married Alexandre Dumas fils.
Nicolas, a friend of Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas père, was a keen hunter. He befriended the hunting guide William Cody, known as “Buffalo Bill”, who invited him to come and hunt elk in the Rocky Mountains in the United States of America.
Buffalo Bill gave Nicolas (whom he nicknamed “Balle au Coeur”) two rifles that can be seen at Pontié.
Rent Pontié for a holiday and step back in time!
