A 1929 neo-Norman villa with a sea view and a garden covering almost 4,000m², nestled in the town of Sainte-Adresse on high ground beside the city of
A 1929 neo-Norman villa with a sea view and a garden covering almost 4,000m², nestled in the town of Sainte-Adresse on high ground beside the city of Le Havre, Normandy.
The town of Sainte-Adresse lies on the last cliff hollow of Normandy's Pays de Caux province. Its first inhabitants were farmers and fishermen. In the 19th century, it became a seaside resort thanks to the development of its neighbour: the port city of Le Havre. The town is known for its edifices Le Nice-Havrais and Le Palais des RĂ©gates, for its elegant villas, and for the former building L'HĂ´tellerie, where the Belgian government was based during the First World War.
The property lies on high ground in the town. The view here stretches several dozen kilometres south-west towards Caen and Normandy's CĂ´te fleurie coastline. From the street, a ramp leads to a parking area on one side of the villa with a garage and service entrance door. The villa was built in 1929 in line with the resort's development by Parisian businessman Georges Dufayel. The elegant edifice has all the traits of the neo-Norman style of architecture: half-timbering, steep roofs with overhangs, complexity and dissymmetry in the forms, corbelling, bay windows, balconies and large picture windows that look out at the sea and garden. The interior, on the other hand, is more classical in design with a layout typical of an upper-middle-class dwelling. The spaces are organised and well-structured. The everyday spaces and the more private rooms are distinct. The garden extends mainly in front of the main entrance door, facing the sea, and on the opposite side too. Behind the villa, the hillside has been partially stone-laid and is dotted with specific clusters of plants. Steps lead down from the home to the street.
The villa
The basement
In the basement, the decor of the entrance area reflects the elegance, sturdiness and practicality of the whole villa. A service entrance door leads into the basement hallway. The walls and floor are covered with pale square stone tiles, as is the flight of backstairs, including its risers. There is discreet lighting and a round timber handrail is fixed with brass rings. The space is brightened up with a window of glass blocks. The hall leads to a garage, which is big enough to house three vehicles, and to a boiler room, a lavatory, a wine cellar and storage spaces. At the other end, on the garden side, there is a spacious games room that leads outside.
The ground floor
Facing the sea, a flight of steps leads to a passageway with four openings with an arch. Among them, there is the entrance door and French windows. At this level, the floor is covered with large pale square tiles. The door, framed between coloured panes, leads into a hallway, which, on one side, connects to a dining room with a bay window and an ashlar fireplace. On the other side, it takes you to a lounge and reading room. Large windows that face the sea on the south and west sides bathe all the rooms in natural light. Wood can be seen everywhere, with herringbone parquet in the dining room, tall book shelving in the reading room, and exposed beams and joists in the lounge, where an imposing timber staircase leads upstairs. Cornices edge the ceilings and windows. The hallway also connects to a spacious, elegant lavatory and to a kitchen with annexe rooms and a flight of backstairs - all at the rear of the villa.
The first floor
You reach the first floor via the main staircase, which is bathed in natural light from tall, rectangular windows of coloured panes and with English-style catches. The first-floor windows all face the sea. Wood strip flooring has been covered with a thick carpet. A corridor leads to a landing area with a bedroom and a bathroom brightened up with a bull's-eye window and to the main bedroom with a bathroom and lavatory. The ...
