The splendor of Château Depaz - rebuilt by Victor Depaz on the model of the Habitation Périnelle, where he spent his childhood - does not hide the tragedy at the origin of its construction. In May 1902, the Habitation Périnelle was indeed completely destroyed by the eruption of Mount Pelée, which also caused the death of the sixty-three members of the family of young Victor, then a student at the Saint-Genes school in Bordeaux. Returning to Martinique after his studies, he decided to build a new dwelling (the current Château Depaz) under the threatening crater of the mountain on a plot of 1,235.5 acres (500 ha) bought from the Aurigny family. After the reopening of the distillery in 1917, Victor Depaz embarked in 1920 on the construction of the castle itself, an exact replica of Périnelle.