A short history about Château de Riolas

Mathieu Bergougnan, a visionary industrialist and landowner of the 19th century, commissioned and oversaw the construction of the Château de Riolas, shaping its neoclassical, Napoleonic-inspired form with a disciplined sense of proportion and grandeur. Trained in the practical arts of estate management and influenced by contemporary architectural trends, he sought to create a residence that balanced stately formality with the working needs of a rural property: three formal floors of living space, ample service areas, stables, and a gentilhommière for guests and senior staff. His investment extended beyond the main house to the landscaped park—wooded walks, rolling meadows, a pond and wells—planned to support both ornament and self-sufficiency. Known locally for his thoughtful stewardship of the land and his commitment to agricultural innovation, Bergougnan left a legacy of solid construction and measured elegance that remains the defining character of the château today.

Mathieu Bergougnan, with his brothers, Raymond-Célestin and Jean Bergougnan, was a founder of the Bergougnan tire factory. The factory, Bergougnan et Cie, is credited as the most vital industrialist to support France before and after World War I. In May 1903, his brother, Raymond, became a Knight in the Order of the Legion of Honor. Bergougnan created the blueprint for what is now known as the Michelin Guide.

Bergougnan was sold to Michelin in 1942, after a strong bid by the America company, Goodyear. Members of the Bergougnan family are far-flung, from nearby residents of L’Isle en Dodon, to French-speaking communities of the Ivory Coast.

Over the years, the Château de Riolas was bought and sold from Bergougnan’s heirs to France’s former national UFO expert, to a young tech-forward couple who acquired it during the Pandemic, to its current owners from California. Highly stylized letters “M” and “B” remain on the wrought iron gates and balconies of the Château, in memory of Mathieu Bergougnan.

Our story

Nestled in the rolling meadows of the Haute-Garonne, Château de Riolas is a 19th‑century neoclassical home in the Napoleonic style. Its three floors and twelve bedrooms bear the quiet traces of generations who lived here with refinement. Recently the château has begun a new chapter: the current owners left California to make their home in France, bringing a spirit of adventure and a modern sensibility that respects the estate’s past.

The property includes a gentilhommière guest house, stables, a ménagerie, and a shaded park of mature woods, centered on a tranquil pond and historic wells. Here cultivated elegance is woven into the rhythms of the surrounding countryside. Over time the château has grown from a private family residence into a welcoming refuge for friends — a place where history, nature and hospitality meet, now subtly shaped by a transatlantic presence.