Franc-Waret Castle, Heritage castle in Fernelmont, Belgium.

Franc-Waret is a stone castle in Fernelmont featuring formal French gardens and an English style garden spanning about 120 hectares, all enclosed by a surrounding moat. The residential wing built in the mid-18th century connects the original fortified structure with later additions and improvements.

The original fortified farmhouse dates from the 13th century and became a residence when the de Groesbeeck family acquired it in the 16th century. The estate has since undergone multiple expansions and modernizations while retaining traces of its defensive origins in the structure.

The de Groesbeeck family acquired the estate in the 16th century and used it as a summer residence; the property later passed to the Comtes de Croix and then to the Comtes d'Andigné, who still live there. The interiors, shown by appointment, keep 17th- and 18th-century decor with furniture, silverware, porcelain, tapestries, old books and paintings, a few of them by Brueghel.

The interior can only be seen by appointment, so arrange a visit in advance; the gardens and park lie outside the moat, with the French terraces north of the buildings and the English-style park beyond. Access to the main façade crosses two bridges over the moat, and the drawbridge leads to the farm courtyard.

In August 1914 the owners hid paintings in stacked vaults and buried tapestries and wine in zinc crates before German troops arrived on 20 August; the soldiers left on 7 September after finding and breaking open the hiding places. The orangery was built in 1810 to plans by architect Fr. Duckers.