Château de la Jayère, Heritage château in Lyon, France

Château de la Jayère is a 19th-century residence with a three-level rectangular main facade featuring a terrace balustrade on the second floor and two oculus windows on the north side. The red-plastered building is topped by a four-sided roof with steep pavilions and sits on a hillside beneath the Duchère district.

Construction of the château began in the mid-19th century under Clémentine de Villas d'Arnal, who shaped the property as its owner. The building emerged during a period of economic growth in Lyon when wealthy families were investing in ambitious residential projects.

Clémentine de Villas d'Arnal, from the Cévennes, bought land along what is now the montée de Balmont and had the château built for family friends Théodore Brouzet and his wife Émeline Rigotier. Widowed from Arthur de Cazenove and remarried to Jean-Alphonse Gilardin, first president of the appeal courts of Lyon and Paris, she died at La Jayère in 1888. Her son Raoul de Cazenove, president of the Lyon academy of sciences, letters and arts, kept the estate in the family.

The property sits on a hillside beneath the Duchère district with views over the Saône plain and Vaise area. Since this remains a private residence, public access is not available, though its location makes it visible from various viewpoints in the surrounding neighborhood.

Separated from the property by a wall, a neo-medieval watchtower stands higher up the slope; its covered upper platform rests on corbels and is pierced with arrow slits. A small stream runs between the tower and the house, and a bridge links the two. The tower is not part of the château itself.