Château Saint-Antoine, Masonic temple and bastide in the 11th arrondissement, Marseille, France
Château Saint-Antoine is a large bastide in Marseille's 11th arrondissement, built around a central block erected from 1792 for Jean-Baptiste Isoard. Its long lower wing carries a row of rectangular windows under a shallow hipped roof of pale tiles, while the taller right-hand block has recessed rectangular panels and a flat roofline topped by a balustrade with vertical balusters. A staircase with dark metal railings climbs to a dark door, and a pale grey paved drive curves in front.
In 1762 the lawyer Joseph Isoard bought La Miniarde east of La Barasse; in 1792 his heir Jean-Baptiste Isoard added the neighbouring La Rousse and built the central part of the present building, naming it La Rousse. The estate passed through Louis d'Alayer de Costemore (1842), François Philippe (1867) and Joseph Blanc (1894) before Count Guy de Robien bought it in 1907, extended it and gave it the name Château Saint-Antoine. In 2017 the Grande Loge de France acquired and restored it as a Masonic temple.
Marcel Pagnol set part of Le Château de ma mère in this bastide, describing a turreted château surrounded by flower beds, vines and orchards, and a count never seen by the neighbours. The writer's account fixed the house in local memory. Since 2017 the Grande Loge de France uses it as a Masonic temple.
The bastide stands in the heart of the Valentine business zone, bordered by the Huveaune to the south and a canal to the west. Since 2017 it has served as a Masonic temple for the Grande Loge de France, so it is not open to the public; visits are not possible. The grounds are private and the building is not listed as a historic monument.
The property was not listed during the 1996–1997 inventory that protected neighbouring châteaux La Buzine, Régis and La Reynarde; a later protection request was refused because the building was judged to be in an advanced state of ruin. Marseille-Aménagement bought it in 1995 and left it abandoned until the Grande Loge de France acquired it in 2017.
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