“The collective work of a family to which each member has contributed his stone according to the spirit of the time and his own taste…”

Standing in vast grounds, the Castle of Menthon is not just one of the architectural jewels of Savoy. Over the centuries, its 105 rooms have always been a living home. As a true rampart of nature, the Alps have always been crisscrossed by strategic routes. Near the Castle of Menthon, the traces can still be found of an old Roman road which connected Geneva with Italy, and which in particular went through Dingy-Saint-Clair, Menthon and Faverges, and this was not perhaps by chance. Of Celtic origin, the name "Menthon" means "house on the rock" and a wooden watch tower must have been erected on the site of the present castle to keep watch over the comings and goings on the road as well as the boats on Lake Annecy.

Built on a rocky spur, the Castle of Menthon is therefore the result of a long history… which began at the end of the 12th century. At first, there were three high square towers: the lake tower which looks over the lake, the village and the Annecy-Faverges road; the keep which looks towards the way over the valley of the Aravis; the armory tower which watches over the Pass of Bluffy and the Dents de Lanfon. Linked by sentry walks, they shelter a great courtyard where the villagers found refuge during troubled times.

During the Renaissance, the austere fortified castle was gradually transformed into a residence, and rooms were built to replace the former sentry walks. In 1740, a facade was created, opening a view onto the lake. It was because of its stability that the castle was able to withstand its great metamorphosis in 1880, at the instigation of the great-grandfather of the present owner, René de Menthon. An artist at heart, a poet and a dreamer, the man was not content to be a contemporary of Viollet-le-Duc; he was also fully committed to the cause of the famous architect who restored several medieval buildings. He undertook important renovation work and by deciding to add several fine, slender towers to the building, it was he who gave the picture its final brush stroke: the Castle of Menthon acquired a new, subtle and highly romantic look, which makes its charm and even its mystery… so much so that a certain Walt Disney, on holiday in the region, was to take his inspiration from it for another photogenic castle, Sleeping Beauty’s castle! Well protected from public gaze behind their high solid walls, the inner rooms have changed very little. They are valuable evidence of what a castle in Savoy must have been like as it was gradually transformed into a rich, lordly residence.