Château d'Aulteribe, Medieval castle in Sermentizon, France

The Château d'Aulteribe is a polygonal castle whose rooms are arranged around a small inner courtyard. Its south facade is asymmetrical: a two-storey central block crowned with machicolations and a brattice, a central stair with a grey sandstone balustrade, a square tower on one side and a pavilion with a full-height turret and a pink stone pepper-pot roof on the other. A neo-Romanesque chapel with an apse and two apsidioles stands in front.

Aulteribe is first mentioned in the second half of the 13th century, when Odinet Cholet was its damoiseau. In 1467 Charles Motier de La Fayette added arrow slits and gun ports, and the seigneurie passed by marriage to the Montboissier, then the Montagu. Sold in 1775 to Jacques de Pierre, the medieval building was described as threatening ruin; his grandson Joseph restored it in the Romantic taste with help from Caroline Costoz-Onslow.

The collections were assembled by Caroline Costoz-Onslow and Marie Clauzel, two women of the family passionate about art, then passed to Henry de Pierre. His 1954 bequest required that the furniture serve the "artistic instruction of visitors". Since 1999 the castle has hosted a two-year cabinetmaking restoration course, with students studying the collections on site.

The site is regularly open to visitors, and guided tours are available to explore its history and collections. It helps to check opening times beforehand and allow adequate time to view the different rooms at a comfortable pace.

Since 1999 the château has hosted a two-year advanced cabinetmaking restoration course (BTMS ébéniste) run by IFP43, whose selected students study the collections on site. The bequest of Marquis Henri de Pierre in 1954 stipulated that his collection serve the artistic instruction of visitors, and the training puts that clause into practice.