A first in France. The United States celebrated Sunday in Haute-Loire the memory of the Marquis de La Fayette, one of the French heroes of the War of Independence 250 years ago, by announcing that it would contribute to the restoration and conservation of his native castle.
This is the first grant awarded by the United States to a French site as part of the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation (AFCP), a State Department program which finances cultural heritage preservation projects abroad, the American mission said.
In the amount of 250,000 dollars (220,000 euros), American aid will be directed towards two priority projects. The restoration of part of the gardens, including “a neo-Gothic fountain and a waterfall in place of the mill which is leaking everywhere,” explains Anne-Laure Delorme-Baruch, deputy director of Culture and Heritage at the Department of Haute-Loire in Le Figaro.
The castle park, which covers twenty hectares, was originally designed by the American John Moffat. This was inspired by certain heritage elements dating from the time of La Fayette such as the reach of the old mill, but was also keen to place the park in its time by creating atmospheres evoking the gardens of the world, in the style of Albert Kahn: the large meadow, the rock garden, the coniferous forest, the rose garden... By praising this "founding figure of Franco-American friendship", the participants notably planted two rose bushes, one called “La Fayette – Hero of the Two Worlds”, the other “General Washington”. The ceremony took place in the gardens of the imposing building made of black volcanic and basalt stones, topped by a monumental square tower, in the small village of Chavaniac-Lafayette, in the presence of representatives of the Haute-Loire department and the American diplomatic mission in France, co-organizers.
The American endowment will also contribute to the conservation of the collections of the French Heroes of Lafayette Memorial Fund, dedicated to French soldiers engaged alongside American insurgents against Great Britain.
Inventory and documentation work has been launched on John Moffat's American-style private apartments, with a view to their future restoration. “To protect and restore them, they must be inventoried,” summarizes the Deputy Director of Culture and Heritage in the Haute-Loire department. In total, 13,000 objects, some of which belonged to La Fayette, but also furniture, photographs, clothing from John Moffat's family as well as pictorial works which are "mainly local and regional works".
The project also plans to strengthen the reception of French and American audiences, “thanks to the production of video content, virtual tours, increased media coverage and the organization of joint events”.
The call for projects, launched in April, was made official in July. The AFCP grant will make it possible to initiate a first phase of restoration and conservation over five years (2026 - 2030) from 2026. “This place reminds us that the future is always nourished by the heritage that we choose to preserve. One castle, two stories, the story of a long friendship” declares Marie-Agnès Petit, LR president of the Haute-Loire department.
Away from the main road, the castle, open to the public from April to November, brings together an average of 15,000 visitors per year, mainly French. “We would very much like Americans to be among its visitors,” confides Anne-Laure Delorme-Baruch.
Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de La Fayette (Lafayette in American English), born September 6, 1757, seduced by the ideas of the American Revolution which would lead to the war of independence of the United States against Great Britain, enlisted in 1777, at the age of 19, in the American insurgent army. So against the will of King Louis XVI.
He was quickly appointed general by the Congress which brought together the 13 colonies revolting against the British crown and which had proclaimed the independence of the United States a year earlier, on July 4, 1776. La Fayette became one of the closest collaborators of their commander-in-chief, George Washington, who won the war of independence thanks to the military support of France, finally decided by Louis XVI from 1778.
La Fayette notably played an important role in October 1781 in the decisive battle of Yorktown, at the head of an American division alongside Washington and French troops. The Franco-American victory forced the British to negotiate, until the Treaty of Paris which recognized the independence of the United States on September 3, 1783.
