The local feudal lords were the Counts of Rieneck, kin of the founders, who persistently over the next centuries tried to acquire the property for themselves.

[1][3]: 99 In 1376, the Rieneck family sold their local properties to Würzburg, but retained the position of Vögte (or lay stewards) of Schönrain.

[1] Eventually, after severe damages sustained during the German Peasants' War, the then Abbot of Hirsau dissolved the monastery at Schönrain and sold the premises to Philipp von Rieneck in 1526, who re-built it as a residence for his wife Margaretha around 1535.

When that family line failed in 1601, the site passed permanently to the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg,[1][3]: 99  who used it as accommodation for their forestry officials until 1625.

It was heavily damaged in the Thirty Years' War and served as a local source of construction materials.