Rural Dordogne boasts very own ‘White House’

FRANCE has its very own ‘White House’: a building that looks suspiciously like the home of the US president, but is in the Dordogne.
The famous Washington DC landmark is rumoured to have been modelled on the Château de Rastignac, in La Bachellerie.
With its iconic semi-circular portico, the château bears more than a passing resemblance to the White House.
However, it seems that the White House was built earlier, in 1800, while the Château was completed some time between 1811 and 1817.
Nevertheless, construction of the château, which was designed by architect Mathurin Salat for the Marquis de Rastignac, had been interrupted by the 1789 French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
The third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, also visited the region in 1789, and may even have seen the drawings for the future château during his stay.
It was after he was elected in 1801 that works began to add the south portico and pillars to the White House in Washington DC.
However, although theories abound among locals and historians, it appears there is no conclusive proof that the White House was modelled on the château.
Today, the château de Rastignac has been converted into private apartments: it was bought by Dutch owners in the 2000s, and is now shared by a collective of doctors and lawyers. This group has invested huge amounts to renovate the building, which fell into disrepair after standing empty since the Second World War.
In 1944, the château was set alight by SS forces fleeing the French Resistance, and the fire they started is said to have burned for five days.
A collection of more than 30 Impressionist paintings by Cézanne, Bonnard, Van Gogh, Manet, and Lautrec was lost in the blaze.
A previous château built on the site in the Middle Ages was also destroyed by fire in the 1570s.