In his will, he left the Château of Ranton to his great nephews. They sold it at auction in December 1889. The only bidder was the schoolmaster of the neighbouring village of Curçay, Mr. Manson. By this time the Château was still habitable, but much of it was little more than a ruin. Like many similar properties throughout France, it fell to the local schoolmaster to preserve as well as he could the vestiges of the past. Mr. Manson is still remembered in the village as a severe and eccentric recluse. One of the main towers of the entrance collapsed in 1942 and on his death, in April that year, M. Manson left the estate to his housekeeper and his nephew.