Château de la Lande, castle in Montmorillon, Vienne, France

The Château de la Lande in Montmorillon is a stone house with a steep slate roof, a round tower with a conical roof at one end and a small turret at the other, its dormer windows with pointed gables added when the roofs were raised from 1872. A central doorway reached by steps opens beneath rows of windows. The 16th-century dwelling, once tiled, keeps its square tower, spiral-stair round tower and machicolated dovecote.

The castle began as a fortified house of the Goudon de Bœuf family and came by dowry around 1550 to the Goudon de Lalande de l'Héraudière, who took that name and still own it. In the 16th century it had a one-storey dwelling with flat-tile roof, a square tower and a round tower holding the spiral stair. Works from 1872 added a round tower, raised all roofs and covered them in slate, keeping the two towers and the machicolated dovecote.

The family name Goudon de Lalande de l'Héraudière comes from the estate itself: the Goudon de Bœufs brought La Lande as a dowry around 1550, and the new owners took the name of the place. The 16th- and 17th-century sheepfolds among the outbuildings recall the estate's farming past, while the roughly 30-hectare park holds oaks and chestnuts several centuries old.

The château stands in Montmorillon, in the Vienne department, at coordinates 46.39750, 0.90220. The 30-hectare park holds centuries-old oaks and chestnuts, so paths can be uneven underfoot. The 16th- and 17th-century sheepfolds and the 16th-century dwelling are among the outbuildings to look for on the grounds.

The round tower with its conical roof and the raised slate roofs date from works begun in 1872, not from the 16th century. Those works kept the two older towers and the dovecote with machicolations. The 16th- and 17th-century sheepfolds and a 16th-century dwelling survive among the 19th-century outbuildings.