A renovated farmhouse from the 16th century with a swimming pool, an orchard and outbuildings, not far from the city of Angers, in France's Maine-et-L
A renovated farmhouse from the 16th century with a swimming pool, an orchard and outbuildings, not far from the city of Angers, in France's Maine-et-Loire department.
The property lies near the banks of the River Loire. There are quaint excavated cave dwellings nearby too. You reach the village via small roads that wind through France's beautiful Anjou province. Milly forest, which covers 887 hectares in a zone of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest, is also very close. In the middle of the village, a 13th-century church stands upon the source of the River Aubance, a tributary of the River Loire. The church is surrounded by houses made of local tuffeau stone. This river still provides water for the village's old washhouse. The nearest shops are only five minutes away by car. The charming towns of Gennes-Val-de-Loire and Doué-en-Anjou are respectively 8 and 15 minutes away by road. And the city of Angers is only 30 minutes away. From its high-speed train station, you can reach Paris in 1 hour and 30 minutes.
A wooden entrance gate, framed between two ashlar pilasters, leads into the property, a former farm complex. The property used to belong to a manor, which stands on the other side of the road. The complex was built in the 16th century. It was the home of Hercules de Moreau, a valet to the king, and later, in the 18th century, it was the home of the Guéniveau family, who passed it on to Joseph-Eugène Bonnemère. The latter was a famous author and playwright. The main edifice is built of tuffeau stone, with rubble stone for the elevations and ashlar for the window and door surrounds. A gable slate roof crowns the building. Many steel-and-glass windows punctuate the north and south sides. A porch leads to the cellars. This porch's roof has a hipped end and is supported with four pillars with mouldings. Opposite, there is another building. It is partly converted and it houses a bread oven. Between the two buildings, there is a granary with a ground floor and first floor. A three-slope roof crowns it. Its western elevation is made of ashlar and is punctuated with three bull's-eye windows. At the bottom of the garden lies a former stable. A walled orchard can be reached from outside. A swimming pool lies there.
The farmhouse
The main dwelling
Three distinct entrance doors lead into the different reception rooms, which are separate from each other. The first entrance door leads into a room with a 106m² floor area. It has a floor of rush matting and walls of exposed stonework. It has ten windows, one of which is arched. This arched window is 2.80 metres wide and 3 metres tall. The trusses of the exposed roof frame punctuate the space, which, at some points, has a six-metre ceiling height up to the roof ridge. You can move smoothly to a kitchen and lounge from here. There is a bedroom and a bathroom near the entrance. At the end of the lounge, a glazed arched door leads to two spacious suites, each of which leads straight out to the garden. From outside, a second entrance door leads to a bedroom with a tuffeau-stone fireplace and a bathroom.
The apartment
At the western end of the farmhouse, a third entrance door takes you to a tuffeau-stone staircase, which leads up to the first floor. Up here, there is an open-plan apartment with a 108m² floor area. It has a floor of polished concrete and its roof frame is exposed. Straight ahead lie two bedrooms and a shower room, which you reach from a corridor.
The basement
From the porch that protrudes from the farmhouse's facade, you go down to the cellar. This cellar stretches from east to west beneath the whole house. Under the vaulted ceiling of tuffeau stone down here, you can still see rails, which were once used for storing and carrying barrels of wine.
The ...
