Château d'If, the best writing cabin ever

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So Château Monte-Cristo wasn’t even the best bit of Dumas’ castle. There was also his “little writing shack”. And naturally it’s also a castle…

Dumas had Hippolyte Durand create a quiet place he could write and once more it felt like a loveletter from Dumas to himself. I don’t know how much input he had on the design himself, but I’ll show you what I mean:

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Aside from the beautiful stone carvings, the building is covered in stones with the names of the books and plays (and characters therein I think) that Dumas had written up to the finishing of this castle.

The inside is actually really modest (comparatively):

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It might be two-storey, but it really looks like a good quiet writing space (that looks down and out on the castle proper so you can see when your friends arrive for dinner. The sightlines on this estate are excellent)

You can walk around the moat around the castle and the back is super charming as well.

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It really isn’t large, but this neo-gothic castle has it all. A moat, a beautiful stone carved bridge, a stonecarved balcony and a tower. (Sadly you can’t go in, so I don’t have upstairs or balcony details). I have walked around this Castle so much, it’s so pretty!

All the details have been considered, with serious thought to aesthetic and Drama. With a moat and rocks and ivy, ready to be the coolest ruin ever:

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And lastly, by the door there’s this:

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