OUR STORY
Chateau hotels & luxury villa rentals in Languedoc Roussillon
Our Vision
When we bought Château Les Carrasses in 2008, the estate had been all but abandoned for many years. Our idea was to turn it into à la carte vacation destinations: holidays and breaks that did not demand a compromise from guests, who could to have the holiday that suited them rather than have it imposed in a package.
When we bought Château Les Carrasses in 2008, the estate had been all but abandoned for many years. Our idea was to turn it into à la carte vacation destinations: holidays and breaks that did not demand a compromise from guests, who could to have the holiday that suited them rather than have it imposed in a package.
Our concept
Like the best French wines, the aim was to create an ‘assemblage’ of the best
elements of traditional accommodation options: The facilities and style of a quality hotel, the privacy and practicality of renting a villa, the charm and authenticity of a working wine estate and the laid back ambience and service of a private club. While we don’t necessarily have every aspect of each element, we’ve tried to ensure that we have all the best bits and that the estate comes together as a cohesive whole.
Like the best French wines, the aim was to create an ‘assemblage’ of the best
elements of traditional accommodation options: The facilities and style of a quality hotel, the privacy and practicality of renting a villa, the charm and authenticity of a working wine estate and the laid back ambience and service of a private club. While we don’t necessarily have every aspect of each element, we’ve tried to ensure that we have all the best bits and that the estate comes together as a cohesive whole.
History of the estate
A Château pinardier revisited " I visited a hundred or so sites in the region before finding Château Les Carrasses. But it took me thirty seconds to buy it," confides Karl O'Hanlon, founder of Domaine & Demeure. Perched on a promontory emerging from a sea of undulating vines stretching south to the Pyrenees, the château flanked by turrets offers an incomparable view of the vineyards.
Built in 1886 by the Bordeaux architect Louis Garros, on the ruins of a relay for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, the Château and all its outbuildings were still standing in 2008 when it was sold to Karl O’Hanlon and Anita Forte, who were looking for an estate to transform into a rural retreat. The transformation of the Château and the outbuildings took three years, when production was moved to the modern facility at nearby Domaine de Cibadies, with the current incarnation of the estate opening its doors to visitors in 2011.
Today the vines are managed by our partners Vignobles Bonfils, a family of independent winemakers with a portfolio of 17 award-winning properties in the Languedoc.
A Château pinardier revisited " I visited a hundred or so sites in the region before finding Château Les Carrasses. But it took me thirty seconds to buy it," confides Karl O'Hanlon, founder of Domaine & Demeure. Perched on a promontory emerging from a sea of undulating vines stretching south to the Pyrenees, the château flanked by turrets offers an incomparable view of the vineyards.
Built in 1886 by the Bordeaux architect Louis Garros, on the ruins of a relay for pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela, the Château and all its outbuildings were still standing in 2008 when it was sold to Karl O’Hanlon and Anita Forte, who were looking for an estate to transform into a rural retreat. The transformation of the Château and the outbuildings took three years, when production was moved to the modern facility at nearby Domaine de Cibadies, with the current incarnation of the estate opening its doors to visitors in 2011.
Today the vines are managed by our partners Vignobles Bonfils, a family of independent winemakers with a portfolio of 17 award-winning properties in the Languedoc.
THE ENVIRONMENT
We are lucky enough to live and work in beautiful natural surroundings, and so it is important to us that we do everything we can to minimize the environmental impact of our estates, ensuring that this pristine environment is preserved for those that will come after us. This obligation guides our approach to both the development and the day to day running of the estate. This obligation guides our approach to many aspects of the day to day running of the estate.
We are lucky enough to live and work in beautiful natural surroundings, and so it is important to us that we do everything we can to minimize the environmental impact of our estates, ensuring that this pristine environment is preserved for those that will come after us. This obligation guides our approach to both the development and the day to day running of the estate. This obligation guides our approach to many aspects of the day to day running of the estate.
It was also really important to us that the estate be an integral part of and positive contributor to the local community.
We prioritize the employment of local people. While this will sometimes create some challenges – language skills may not be perfect for example - we think this is a price worth paying. Not only do we tap into a wealth of local knowledge about the estates, their history and their surrounding environment, but good full time jobs enrich the local economy, enabling young locals to live and raise families in their home villages.
We are also very careful to ensure that the estate feels open and welcoming to both locals as well as residential guests. We are convinced that having a great mix of locals, out-of-area French and international guests is the key to creating a great experience for everyone who visits us.
This philosophy creates a lot of local goodwill and ‘anchors’ the Château into the community, something we believe will be felt by our guests as they interact with local people both on the estate and in the surrounding area during their stay.