The Twin Room
Two gilded beds beneath an old tapestry in the Chambre Jeanne d’Arc, looking out to the mountains.
From€270per room, a night · breakfast included
Check datesChâteau-VerdunAriège
Château de Gudanes
Where History Becomes Home
A restoration followed the world over, and an invitation extended quietly.
An eighteenth-century château in the French Pyrénées, under restoration since 2013.
Or stay longer, for a retreat: three to seven nights of la vie de château.Or three to seven nights of la vie de château. See the retreats
2 Route de Beille, Château-Verdun, Ariège 09310, France
L’art de vivre The art of living
La Vie de Château
For two centuries Gudanes was a château of guests. Then, for decades, it fell silent. Now, for a few weeks each year, its doors open again to a small company who come to live France as the French have always lived it.
Mornings begin with bread from the village boulangerie and crêpes on the terrace. The days belong to the kitchen and the château’s chefs, to the markets and brocantes of the Ariège, to the castle at Foix, or to the restorers’ scaffold as a fresco returns to the light. Afternoons are for the pool, a glass of the region’s wine and a book from the library. Every evening ends à table: the apéritif as the mountains turn blue, dinner of several courses by candlelight, and on the last night a banquet in the Salon de Musique, then dancing.
Guests arrive as strangers and leave as friends, and so many of them return.
The next dates
- Noël at Gudanes A French Christmas in a château, by the fire 5 – 9 December 2026 4 nights / 5 days · €3,200 per person · nothing to pay at the end about €800 a night
- Cooking in the Cuisine French cooking, in the kitchens where it belongs 25 – 30 June 2027 5 nights / 6 days · €3,800 per person · nothing to pay at the end about €760 a night
- Antique & French Finds Three days of chiner: the art of the find 3 – 6 July 2027 3 nights / 4 days · €2,800 per person · nothing to pay at the end about €930 a night
Many of our guests return, some year after year, each time for a different retreat. In autumn 2026, every guest at the Autumn Atelier had stayed with us before.
Stay the Night
The Six Rooms
Room and breakfast. Each is different, because the château is.
The Twin Room (Ground Floor)
A queen bed and a double bed in a quiet room on the ground floor, though still reached by stairs.
From€270per room, a night · breakfast included
Check dates
The King Room
A king bed in the Chambre Olympe de Gouges, one of the few rooms whose floor and ceiling survived.
From€270per room, a night · breakfast included
Check dates
The King Suite
A king bed beneath a four-poster canopy, with a bath and a basin in the room itself and the mountains beyond the windows.
From€350per room, a night · breakfast included
Check dates
The Marquis Suite
The château’s grandest bedroom: a gilded four-poster with an emperor bed, armchairs by the fireplace, and 70 m² to yourselves.
From€440per room, a night · breakfast included
Check dates
The Family Suite
Two bedrooms for a family, the Chambre Bleue and the Chambre des Fleurs, across 140 m².
From€580per room, a night · breakfast included
Check datesTwo ways to stay
A Night, or la Vie de Château
Stay the Night
Room and breakfast
- Your room, and breakfast each morning
- Lunch and dinner unavailable: restaurants nearby
- The pool, the tennis court and the gardens, table tennis, the lounge and board games, the terraces and a barbecue area
- At extra cost, if you wish: an airport transfer from Toulouse
One night or more, from €270 per room, a night
A Retreat
La vie de château
- Your room in the château, and a small company to share it
- The château’s gourmet chefs: every meal, and drinks included, from wine and cocktails to local sparkling wine
- The kitchen, the markets and brocantes, Foix and the caves, the restoration
- Long lunches, candlelit dinners, a night to dress for, and dancing
Three to seven nights. Nothing to pay at the end.
La restauration The restoration
From Ruin, Room by Room
The dining room: once empty enough for a horse.
New floors, new bathrooms and good French beds, among antiques found at the brocantes of the valley and fresh flowers in every room. The château feels lived in, never furnished.
Bought as a ruin in 2013, the château has been brought back room by room, and the work goes on around you.
Les plaisirs The pleasures
Ways to Spend the Days
Sleep well
A room furnished from the brocantes, breakfast in the morning, and the lounge to come back to in the evening.
Come and stay
Pull up a chair
On a retreat the kitchen never rests: bread and crêpes in the morning, a long lunch, l’apéritif at dusk, and a dinner worth dressing for.
Discover the retreats
Watch it come back
Since 2013 the château has been brought back room by room: what has been done, and what is still waiting.
See the restoration
Wander the valley
Markets, brocantes, castles and mountains, all within an hour, with the pool and the tennis court for the afternoons.
Go exploring
Celebrate here
One wedding or gathering at a time, with the whole château given over to it.
Tell us your plansWhat Guests Say
Each morning I woke up worried that it was only a dream.
Spacious rooms with private, well-equipped bathrooms
Come and see it
The rooms are few. If a date suits, take it, for a night or for a retreat.