A 15-hectare horse-riding estate with a lake, outhouses and 17 looseboxes, tucked away 20 kilometres from the medieval town of Provins, just south-eas
A 15-hectare horse-riding estate with a lake, outhouses and 17 looseboxes, tucked away 20 kilometres from the medieval town of Provins, just south-east of Paris.
The property lies 100 kilometres south-east of Paris, which you can reach in 1 hour and 30 minutes via the N4 trunk road. It is nestled 20 kilometres from the charming town of Provins. From here, you can take a train to the French capital every hour. The home is also near a characterful village renowned for its built heritage. The local village offers shops and amenities, including a bakery, a shopping centre, a pharmacy, a doctor's surgery, a nursing practice, a hairdresser's salon and two hotels with fine restaurants. The grounds cover undulating meadows and lush woods. A quiet country lane snakes through the meadows of horses. The estate enjoys absolute calm in a varied landscape. There is just one neighbour, who is also a horse lover.
The house and outbuildings lie between meadows on one side of the lane and parkland. These buildings were once annexes of a chateau, a former horse-riding centre. But now they form a family home that lends itself to equestrian pursuits. The horse meadows and most of the equestrian facilities remain on the property, but the horse-riding hall at the far end of the grounds has been sold. You reach the buildings via a lane, then a double gate. A stream runs through the parkland and fills up the property's lake, which flows into the River Auxence, a small tributary of the River Yonne. A range of constructions with different purposes dot the land. First, there is the main house, between an orchard and a courtyard. It probably dates back to the 18th century and its foundations are even older, as suggested by a former chapel with rib vaults from the 16th century. The building, built in an L shape, includes two dwellings: the main one and a second one in a wing for friends and family that extends from the main house at a right angle. Beyond this second dwelling, there is a woodstore. Opposite the main house, there is an outbuilding used as an office. Five small looseboxes complete it. These buildings stand around a shady courtyard with a grassy centre with cherry trees. A lake lies beside the court. An agricultural storage building used for horse feed is flanked with 12 looseboxes and a saddle room. Two workshops lie beyond it. Another building with five looseboxes and a small storeroom complete the complex. The property also includes a round horse pen and a horse-riding area on the other side of the country lane.
The outdoor spacesThere is an orchard and cherry trees with juicy cherries that birds love to pick. The parkland is dotted with a range of varieties of trees, including purple maples, pines, blossoming cherry trees, weeping willows and towering Lombardy poplars that reach 45 metres in height. These majestic giants line the lake, which is filled up with water from a stream. There are three springs on the grounds. There are no mosquitoes on the property, according to the owner, as the fish-rich water is not stagnant but running. Colourful clusters of hydrangeas grow in the shadow of walls. There are two wells with water on the estate. One of them lies in front of the terrace. Beyond the parkland, there are lush horse meadows, edged with woods. And further away, there is a horizon that evokes freedom.
The houseThere is a main house with a wing. The whole edifice is a former outbuilding that once belonged to a chateau. It is divided into three distinct sections. The main house dates back to the 16th and 17th centuries and has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor in the roof space. It adjoins a 15th-century building that houses a chapel. These two sections connect to each other and today form a single dwelling. A ...