Small game shooting, accommodation and private hire in a classical château enlarged by an architect of Versailles
In a quiet valley of the Bourbonnais, along the Aumance, the Château du Creux has watched over the same family line for seven centuries. Enlarged in the 1770s by Nicolas-Martial Foacier, architect to the King at Versailles, the house cultivates a sober classicism. Today people come here for small game shooting in the traditional style, to stay or to hire the estate privately, always in a lived-in home.
The Château du Creux stands at Vallon-en-Sully, in the Allier, along the Aumance. The fief was held from the 14th century by the La Faye family: on 29 December 1407, Hélion de La Faye paid homage to the Duke of Bourbon for his “hôtel du Creux”, a fortified house surrounded by moats, with a drawbridge and battlements. The estate passed to the Fougières family in 1519, through the marriage of Jeanne de La Faye and Gilbert de Fougières. In the 1770s, François-Marie de Fougières entrusted Nicolas-Martial Foacier, architect to the King at Versailles, with the design of the estate: pavilions, successive courtyards, forecourt and entrance gates form one of the finest vistas in the Bourbonnais. In 1837, a new marriage passed the estate to the House of Nicolay, who have lived there ever since, without interruption. The château has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1950 (Mérimée record PA00093327). The listing means that any work on the protected parts is overseen by the architects of the Bâtiments de France.
Three activities take place here, never overlapping. Small game shooting, in the traditional style, runs from the opening in September to the close in February, across the estate’s 1,100 hectares. Stays, in guest rooms at the Maison du Régisseur, welcome guests for one night or a few, breakfast included, with access to the park and, depending on availability, to the château. Private hire, for a wedding, a corporate retreat or a private reception, closes the estate to any other activity for the duration of the event: one event at a time. The English-style park, along the Aumance, completes the whole with a walled kitchen garden still in cultivation and a court of honour that frames receptions. The château remains first and foremost a family home, lived in all year round, not a full-time commercial venue: some rooms stay private, others open according to the chosen formula. The château’s Journal also publishes articles on shooting, the restoration of the buildings and life on the estate, for those who wish to follow its news beyond a single stay. Written from the château, these articles cover game management on the estate as well as the restoration work in progress, with the same care for accuracy as the site’s history pages.
It is six in the morning. The walls are eighty centimetres thick. No air-conditioning noise, no hum from a minibar. The light comes in from the east, filters through 19th-century blown glass and draws slightly distorted rectangles on the oak parquet. That is what a night in a house listed as a Historic Monument concretely changes.
It is not a question of standing. It is a question of geography. Walked-up shooting is one of the rare shooting practices where the quality of the land matters above everything else: above the number of birds released, above the quality of the dog, above the experience of the shooter.
Every third Saturday of September, the European Heritage Days remind us that some places belong, for an afternoon, to everyone. The Château du Creux, a listed Historic Monument, is one of them. On Saturday 19 September 2026, the grounds are open to the public, with no booking or ticket, from 10 am to 12:30 pm and from 2 pm to 5:30 pm.
There is a question almost nobody asks before booking a commercial small game shooting day: what does the land look like on a map? Not the photos of the bag, not the number of guns, not the price. The map.
Anyone who has spent twenty years shooting on communal land knows what that involves: drives negotiated with ten neighbouring associations, dogs that do not know the ground, game run across a patchwork of parcels. This text describes concretely what changes on a private estate of 1,100 hectares in one block.
It is 7:50. The courtyard is still in shadow. The first cars arrive, dogs fidget in the boots, someone holds a strong coffee he has not had time to finish. This is the precise course of a typical day at the Château du Creux. Not a promise. A fact.
The Château du Creux lies at the heart of the Bourbonnais, a little under three hours’ drive from Paris and about two hours from Lyon, which makes it a fairly central stop in France. Vallon-en-Sully station is five minutes from the château. The surroundings, between the Tronçais forest and the Aumance valley, lend themselves to an outing alongside a stay. The full address and the recommended route are sent at the time of booking, whether for a stay in a guest room, a private hire or a shooting day. Private parking is available on site for guests arriving by car. For a large group, particularly for a private hire, a dedicated traffic plan is offered so that guests can arrive without crowding the forecourt.
Whether for a family stay, planning a wedding or a corporate retreat, or a shooting day, every enquiry receives a personal reply within 48 hours.
