The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-04-14
SALE or OLD ESTATE.

\ OF the sale Il mas Deem parcelcQ out IL
/ forty-one divisions; but Il IS stiIl a single
domain, OF & type peculiar 70 France IN
/ der older regimes. which has somehow
withstood until now the breaking Up Of
! revolutions and democracy. Vaieucav.
| as it IS today, covers something more
| than twenty-One thousand acres Amer
/ can Gatherings may have counted hun
| dreds OF thousands fer its tens, but they
1 had no princely chateau with its treas
/ ures OF the Renaissance; no park and for
ests stocked with game and fish under
4 the charge Of gardes-chaSse. whose livery
| and trained manners would soreiy upset
/ the bands OF cowboys, with no traditions
most OF all. no ohsequious tenantry- To
/ tell the truth. little OF this is left 10
| France; where II exists, IL IS oftenest the
! hazard OF new fortunes. buying chateaux
and portraits OF ancestors together.
Here there is something OF the new.
/ but IL is dr0ly mixed with the old. Val
| encay is in the former province of Berry.
IN the fun center OF France, continuing
the region frequented by all lovers of
| noble architecture for what are known
rs the Chateaux Of the Loire The do
! main extends into three Of the depart
mentS, which constitute the chief civil Oh
visions Of modern France, and IL forms a
part or the whole of twenty seven COM
munes. The chateau with its immediate
/ OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES and kitchen garden.
! seed-plots. and pruning-grounds, and the
| largest OF the eight forests-cOmprises
] over seven thousand acres, with an an
nual revenue, for the past twenty-five
! years. Of some fourteen thousand dollars.
of which twelve came IN through the for
est This part OF the estate is fer sale at
an upset price of FIVE hundred and twenty
thousand dollars. The entire domain,
with its thirty-six farms. three mills, its
/ fshpond, and bits of woodland, he's had
total annual income Of fifty thousand
dollars year. and the late duke was in
the habit OF spending four thousand Of
these in repairs and improvements. The
selling price asked for the whole amount
to $4,000 francs-a million and twenty
thousand dollars. These are not heavy
I figures, even in industrial France, where
fortunes are reckoned on scale that re-
mains unknown 70 the Iand-poor among
the rich. 1t is chiefly great inanciers and
manufacturers that can afford the deco
rative luxury Of such estates in The pres
ent system OF things. If Vaiencay IS not
now split up, it viii be because one Of
the modern money barons has chosen 20
buy il for himself. as has already hap
pened to many of the old French do
mains. So fer the place has had little 70
do with trade or new fortunes. although
IL owes its preservation to the money that
comes from politics.
Nalencay was originally only the seig
neurie OF the Etampes family, belonging
to the little nobility; but a masquisate
came into the family, and there was an
intermarriage with the Montmorencis.
and so-three centuries ago-the owner
tore down the old constructions which
were questionable in their Gothic rude
ness, and built anew from plans Of Phil
ibert de LOrme, who had just given the
Tuteries to the critical Queen Catherine
de Medicis. The chateau is built ia a
right angle. the other two sides Of the
square being completed by terraces OF
flowers and the orangery. The half-court
Of the traditional chateau. with its dark.
damp corners where the two wings pro-
ject from the main building, was thus
avoided. The ancient moat surrounds the
great building, and there is a dOnjon four
stories high through which entrance Is
made from what was once the draw
bridge. The exterior IS sumptuOus and
majestic. The lofty windows and sculpt-
ured friezes were not surpassed during
the French Renaissance, except at Cham
bord; if the latter is better known. II is
because Valencay is off the line Of tourist
travel and has never been open 10 Wis
itors. Inside, besides the show rooms and
two libraries, there are twenty-five suites
Of rooms for the masters" a chapel
and a vast number of separate rooms.
The surrounding park, one of the most
beautiful in France, covers two hundred
acres. The avenue leading up 20 the
chateau. is now the great high road from
the railway station OF Selles. and for
great distance its perspective is closed
in by the noble building. with it's donjou
and towers, and pointed roofs, with its
cupolas and high decorative chimneys IN
the picturesque taste Of the day.
In the middle of the eighteenth century
the property was sold for 100000 francs
and again twenty years later, in 1860. 10
Co.
This was its first departure from aristoc-
racy toward political finance. The son Of
the tax-gatherer, lying low fl his distant
province, managed to keep bis posses
sions during an the conhscauons of the
Revolution. When Napoleon felt the ne
cessity of nursing the pomp Of nobility
in his new empire. he cast his eye on
Valencay as a suitable country-seat for
Talleyrand. his Ministry of Foreign AZ
fairs. Talleyrand was the younger son
OF n very noble and not over-rich pro-
vincial family, and had been a court
bishop under the King: but now that the
Revolution has swept away the old order.
he was first and foremost a politician ia
his own interests. He complained Of the
high price demanded for the place. and
the Emperor paid a third Of IL. and then.
TO show his resentment, Quartered on him
the Spanish B0urbons. whom he had Just
dethroned- One OF the two brothers be-
came afterwards Ferdinand VII. whose
daughter the eX-Cueen Isabella. stil
lives here IN Paris, the other was the
first Don Carlos. the grandfather Of the
present Pretender Of the same name iu
the same cause.
Tallyrand Kept the place and profted
by the event 20 make an historic rcpartee
under the next regime which be served
He persisted IN performing his duties as
first gentleman % the Chamber toward
the restored Bourbon Louis XVIII u
the latter's displeas1re- why. -. DE-
Taliyrand. DO you ABANDON ycur beautiful
chateau OF Falercay for the tumult ~
the captain asked the King. sire
answered the Minister of AN regimes.
"Nalencay Is uuinhahitahle. tfc Spanish
princes ruined II for me by shooting Gre
works IN honor OF Napoleon. The Vol
tairean King who had prodfcd by the
Revolution that cut or his brothers head
soon made It Imperative that Taileyraud
should inhabit his country place. The ac-
compllshed cvnic. whose heart al bis life
beat by SKIES. then iutermitting one-a
physiological impedimenr 70 any violent
emotion-went Of with his niece y mar
rage. that Prussian Princess o. Cour-
land who brought the duchv II SaEau ic-
20 the family. He set about ordering he Z
wonderful collections a art ard history. 1
of the beautiful chateau Iney were /
carefully watched over ~ the late Due
de- Eslencay. a. lie WIS CONNOLLY Z
known: tut when he FL turn vas s1c-
ceeGGo q few years since hT the one
time arhlter o. fashion. known &c tae 4
Prince De SaEau. ere latters mental 4
reaIth led o. q closing I'D - TIRE prop
erty. and al has finally been sold
Now the cAateau itself is - 70. TIE 4
heir - ths family. Tor reasons zoo ug- 4
rnerous 20 mention s. iikelv 20 hFe on BIZ i
estates in Prussia. where ~ ia peer 4
O. the kingdom The family. many tilted 4
ara iuter-r1arrie1 win ctEer sterre e 4
the Ga tire fre the CaetaG-ares arl I