Built between 1608 and 1616 on a former castle motte acquired by Jean Sève, Lyon's Receiver General of Finances, and accessible via a drawbridge, the chateau's architecture is distinctive due to its perfect symmetry. It has three storeys, with cellars and attic space in the main central part of the building. This part is flanked on either side by two wings, each topped by a hipped roof with rolled eaves, and by two projecting corner towers topped by square-based convex arched roofs, also with rolled eaves. The north and south facades of the main building have large mullioned windows with small panes, with seven windows from the ground floor to the second floor. The slate, hipped roof of the main building features three pediment dormers to the north and south - one in the centre with an arched pediment and the others with a triangular pediment. On either side, the windows on the wings and towers are the same type and height as those on the main building. The roofs are different. Some of them need renovation - those above the towers and the central building. If the building’s shape seems is surprising and the size of the wings seems modest compared to that of the central body, it is because the body houses a very large former Calvinist temple on the second floor, illuminated by seven windows on each facade. It was one of the "fief temples" that France tolerated on its territory after the Edict of Nantes, on condition that they remained discreet. Three dormer windows to the south and north, unique because of their unusual size and their Holy Trinity symbols, were and remain, the only external sign of this on the building. A moat surrounds the chateau and the outbuildings. The property is enhanced by outbuildings such as a caretaker's cottage and a farmhouse with a swimming pool in its walled square courtyard. Lastly, a fountain consisting of a basin adorned by three marmosets from the park at Vaux-le-Vicomte stands in the centre of a circular pool, beyond a large terraced flowerbed, in front of the chateau’s south facade.

The chateau

At the end of the old drawbridge, a porch on the north side reveals a vast inner courtyard. Once you have crossed the courtyard, a flight of steps leads up to a large terrace protected by a balustrade with pear-shaped balusters and a square base, and then to the monumental chateau entrance door. The door, with its semi-circular arch, is flanked on either side by fluted Doric pilasters and surmounted by an engraved plaque, itself topped by an arched pediment adorned with a cupid in bas-relief. Ornaments and sculpted vases follow on from the pilasters. The moat is protected inside and out by rendered stone walls. Finally, at the rear of the chateau, an imposing horseshoe-shaped staircase and an arched bridge spanning the moat lead to the garden and fountain.

The ground floor
The front door opens onto a hall with a black and white checkerboard floor, featuring a large stone staircase with balusters opening onto a central space. This leads to all of the floors. The ground floor is divided into various reception rooms, including lounges. One of the rooms, currently used as a dining room, has parquet flooring and an imposing grey marble fireplace with white veins and carvings, a painted French-style ceiling and high and low Rocaille-style panelling in shades of blue and white, created by Philibert Lonbois of Lyon and silk lampas fabric with its golden yellow background created by the Bucol company. Another lounge with a similar ceiling, decorated with paintings of plant motifs in shades of blue and beige, an antique terracotta floor and beige and light grey base panelling features a monumental fireplace in white limestone and black marble sculpted with a dragon, unicorns and fruit. This is followed by a dining room with a herringbone parquet flooring, a library with parquet flooring and walls covered with high glass shelves in green-painted wood - which can also be used as a smoking room - and finally three bedrooms. One of the rooms, dating from the 18th century, is grey and has a gilded wooden bed with a crossbeam. It adjoins the library; another, in yellow and blue, was created in the tower after the parquet room; the last, in beige and red, has an alcove, frescoes of castles and gardens, and a four-poster bed. Lastly, a shower room and toilet are accessible from the "parquet room", where a remarkable 18th-century star-shaped parquet floor, made up of five wood types, is on display. It came from the Scarron mansion in Lyon and was later found in Belgium before being transferred to the chateau.
The first floor
Here, the space is organised around a large living room, measuring around 130 m², and is made up of seven fairly large rooms, mainly used as bedrooms, a shower room and two bathrooms, as well as a toilet. The first, with its 18th-century high panelling, floor covered in old terracotta tiles and French-style painted wooden ceiling, features a white limestone and black marble fireplace that is remarkable and imposing, with its richly sculpted reliefs of female allegories and angels and its trumeau adorned with a painted allegory of charity. It was here, in the consistory room, that the members of the Sève family settled their civil affairs. As for the bedrooms, most of which have terracotta floors, French-style ceilings and carved stone fireplaces. Each has its own strong aesthetic identity, largely linked to the murals by Pietro Ricchi that cover the walls, a vivid reminder of Italian decorative painting under Louis XIII. It is the largest collection of transalpine frescoes found in France outside the Île-de-France region, and the commission illustrates the Sève family's desire to assert their Italian origins - which was pure wishful thinking. For example, the "parade" shows a parade of figures, including a drummer, a standard-bearer, a halberdier and a musketeer, taken from an engraving depicting a key event in the family's rise to prominence: in 1595, Jean Sève organised the "Grande Entrée" of King Henri IV, whom he had supported, a parade of soldiers and notables in honour of the Bourbon king, and had it depicted here a few years later by the Tuscan painter, inspired by engravings by Goltzius. The walls in the Hercules room show the exploits of the mythological Greek hero in the guise of Henri IV, whose maternal ancestors claimed descent from Heracles, while the perspectives room shows palatial views typical of the Italian Renaissance. Finally, the "Chamber of Virtues", decorated with twisted columns reminiscent of the Temple of Jerusalem, features frescoes of young women, allegories of the four cardinal virtues: Justice, Strength, Temperance and Prudence. The so-called "Louis XIV" bedroom in the east tower stands out with its deep red and gold tones, its four-poster bed, its multicoloured silks and its decorative pilasters in painted and gilded wood.
The second floor
Formerly a temple measuring around 250 m², this part of the building has been divided into utility rooms and other miscellaneous areas, and has yet to be fitted out. Three bedrooms, a kitchen and a shower room are in need of restoration: in particular the terracotta-tiled floors, the French-style ceilings and the wooden balustrade railings that adorn the dwelling formed by these rooms. Scenes from Philippe de Broca's film “Le Diable par la queue" (The Devil by the Tail) were shot on this floor in the late 1960s.
The basement
Accessed from the courtyard via a gentle slope, cellars, a large kitchen, a pantry and a single-room servant’s flat all enjoy plenty of light thanks to the various windows. There are high ceilings and stone or terracotta tiled floors.