Charming castle hotel with spa, a stone's throw from Grenoble

The castle story 

The first hints about the castle appear from 1259, as a templar asset devoted to the lepers care. In 1312, it passed down to Jean II the Dauphin, who transferred it to the Order of Malta. The Commanderie remained under the authority of the Knights of the Order for two centuries. Then, traces are lost until 1808. 

In 1891, René de La Brosse, head of the hydraulic power at the Ministere of Agriculture, bought the castle as a secondary residence and to get closer to his in laws, owners of the Eybens Castle. His wife’s family was established in Dauphiné : her grand-parents, the family Périer, owners of the Vizille castle, were descended from Claude, an industrial and a banker (he organized at his place the first meeting of the “Etats Généraux”, considered as the founding act of the French Revolution-financed the rebellion of the 18 Brumaire which led Bonaparte to be in charge, he also wrote the statuses of the Bank of France et got to be its first manager.) His eight sons all faced a political destiny. Among them Casimir Périer was King Louis Philippe Prime Minister, and his grandson Jean-Casimir Périer was elected President of the Republic in 1984.
Through direct inheritance, the castle then belonged to the Beaumont family who turned it into a hotel in 1981.

The oldest remains to discover once there : on the tower, two loopholes and two defensive window bars from the 13th century. Few meters apart, quite a rare Gallo Roman altar, turned into a fountain : this altar used to get the offerings to the Gods before getting on the dangerous road to the Alps.