The Château Malromé is located in the commune Saint-André-du-Bois. The first recorded occurrence of the château and its vineyard dates from the 16th century by Étienne de Rostéguy de Lancre, a member of the Parliament of Bordeaux.
Towards 1780, the château passed to Catherine de Forcade, the widow of the Baron de Malromé, who renamed it in memory of her spouse.
In 1847, the château became the property of Adolphe de Forcade La Roquette, Vice-President of the Conseil d'État under Napoleon III, and his half-brother, Maréchal Armand-Jacques Leroy de Saint-Arnaud, governor of Paris and Minister of War. These two men had the château restored.
In 1883, the Countess Adèle de Toulouse-Lautrec acquired the building, attracted by its proximity to Verdelais, a nearby shrine and place of pilgrimage.
Her son, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, often visited the château. It was here that he died, on 9 September 1901.
The vineyard of Malromé, which covers a surface area of around forty hectares, is situated on slopes of gravelly clay. Its soil has been renowned over the centuries.
References:The Broch of Gurness is an Iron Age broch village. Settlement here began sometime between 500 and 200 BC. At the centre of the settlement is a stone tower or broch, which once probably reached a height of around 10 metres. Its interior is divided into sections by upright slabs. The tower features two skins of drystone walls, with stone-floored galleries in between. These are accessed by steps. Stone ledges suggest that there was once an upper storey with a timber floor. The roof would have been thatched, surrounded by a wall walk linked by stairs to the ground floor. The broch features two hearths and a subterranean stone cistern with steps leading down into it. It is thought to have some religious significance, relating to an Iron Age cult of the underground.
The remains of the central tower are up to 3.6 metres high, and the stone walls are up to 4.1 metres thick.