In 1426, the estate went to Boudewijn III de Vos, son of Boudewijn II de Vos and Elisabeth van Massemen. Boudewijn III was also Lord of Lovendegem, Zomergem and Pollare.
In 1449, the tax levied on salt led to another rebellion against Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders. The Witte Kaproenen seized Laarne, as well as Gavere, Poeke and Schendelbeke. The Lord of Laarne, Boudewijn IV de Vos, was jailed in Ghent. The Earl of St Pol tried to free Laarne with the help of a handful of Burgundians but the attempt failed and 22 of these brave men died at the foot of the Laarne defense wall. A second attempt led by horsemen from Picardy on December 16th of the same year was more successful. Not much later, errand agitators – known as De Groene Tenters – spread chaos in the region and even managed to occupy the Castle of Laarne for six years.
In 1505, Laarne went to the van der Moere family and then on to the van Gavere family if only for a little while. From around 1570 to 1656, the de Schoutheete van Zuylen d’Erpe family lived in the castle. During the religious unrest that occurred during the life of Frans de Schoutheete, bailiff of Kortrijk, the castle was “ruyné et bruslé – ruined and burned” on July 24th, 1570 and remained uninhabitable for a decade.
The van Vilsteren family originally from Zwolle bought the estate in 1656. Geraard van Vilsteren was also Lord of Aartselaar, Ter Straten in Belsele and Waasmunster. In 1673, Laarne became a barony. It is around this time that the estate became what it is today: the front gate was turned towards the village; a 150-m long alley that led to the church was laid out and four pavilions were erected in the main courtyard. Two years later, the castle escaped demolition by a thread: the troops of Louis XIV committed arson the houses and the church but spared the castle because the King of France had to stay there later during his inspection trip.
In 1683, after the death of Geraard van Vilsteren, Baron of Laarne, his second wife, Livina-Maria de Beer, daughter of the Baron of Meulebeke, married Jan van Brouchoven, Earl of Bergeyck. The illustrious man was a faithful servant of the Spanish Crown; he was also the paymaster of the Southern Netherlands. The opulent figure of his mother, Hélène Fourment – who remarried after the death of Rubens the Earl of Bergeyck – adorned the palace of Versailles in those days.
Then the castle went to Jacques Joseph van Vilsteren and then to his sons François, Nicolaes and Théodore, who all died childless. By a way of consequence, the estate went to Maria-Theresia de Vilsteren, their sister who was the wife of Libert-François Christijn (1703-1785), descendant of a family from the noblesse de robe. Thanks to a very shrewd marriage policy, the family had inherited an impressive series of seignories and baronies, including Ribaucourt in France. In 1796, the castle escaped devastation during the siege of the sans-culottes. The clock of the main tower was nevertheless removed and the chapel was damaged as well. Most of the coats of arms were axed down.
One of her descendants, Robert, Earl of Ribaucourt, intended to permanently live in the estate and had it restored by architect P. Langerock from Leuven. But the First World War and the unexpected death of his son put an end to his project and the castle almost went to ruins. From 1923 to 1927, popular author and reporter Jef Crick lived in one of the wings of the castle with his wife. Artists E. De Buck and H. Broeckaert also lived there for a while.
In order to save the castle from an irreversible decline, it was given out in emphyteutic lease to Charles, Baron Gillès de Pelichy, who hired architect De Tracy to undertake some major restoration project. According to Patrick Devos, “the task was so huge that the restoration work had to be discontinued in order for the castle to be saved from excessive and irrevocable restoration.”