A restored 16th-century mansion with over seven hectares of grounds, nestled in France's River Loir valley and listed as a historical monument - ref 7
A restored 16th-century mansion with over seven hectares of grounds, nestled in France's River Loir valley and listed as a historical monument.
The valley of the River Loir lies where France's historical Maine and Touraine provinces meet. This area is renowned for its history and built heritage. The property is halfway between the cities of Le Mans and Tours. From the train station in Tours, you can get into Paris in just one hour by rail. Tours Val de Loire airport is a 40-minute drive from the property and the A28 motorway is less than 10 kilometres away. The region enjoys a mild climate. The soil and grape varieties here help produce fine wines. Bercé public forest, which covers over 5,000 hectares, is only a few kilometres from the property. And a small town offering a regional rail station, schools, and essential shops and amenities lies five minutes away.
A quiet country lane leads through meadows and farmland on a plateau. From this lane, a driveway lined with North American oaks leads up to the seigneurial mansion. A car park lies next to an entrance to a vast courtyard. You cross a bridge over a water-filled moat on the south side. The mansion stands straight ahead. All the buildings are arranged around the courtyard. A tree-dotted garden lies on the east side, behind a high stone wall yet within the moat's enclosure. In the north-west corner of the moat-enclosed complex, another bridge stretches across the moat. From this spot, you can gaze out at meadows where majestic trees tower. A small wood also lies in the property's north-west corner, beside its boundaries. Meadows evenly spread around the moat-formed island cover an area of around six hectares.
The estate dates back to the 14th century, when the land was part of the nearby fiefdom of La Mothe d'Olbeau. Over the centuries, several families followed one after another on this estate that forms a self-sufficient home. The dwelling was probably built in the 15th century, then extended and redesigned between the late 16th century and the early 17th century to create, above all, its staircase tower and central pavilion. All the fireplaces inside date back to this period and were doubtless crafted by a specialist stone cutter. In the 18th century, the rear eastern pavilion with large windows, a section slightly lower in height, was added to the edifice and the south-east-facing facade was transformed to harmonise the whole mansion's appearance.
In the 16th century, a range of fortifications were made, including the surrounding wall, the moat with its bridges, a fortified tower, and more than twenty arrow slits. At the start of the 20th century, the estate covered around 150 hectares that included smallholdings and a mill.
The mansionThe main section is flanked with two corner pavilions. The eastern one was the estate's treasury in the 18th century. During this same period, the rear eastern wing was added, extending the edifice. The mansion is made of rubble stone that is rendered. A slate roof crowns it. The quoins, cornices, and door and window surrounds are made of dressed tuffeau stone left exposed. The building work that took place between the late 16th century and the early 17th century can still be seen in the dormers with triangular pediments, the Ionic pilasters, the fireplaces and the timber spiral staircase. Over the past eight years, restoration work has freshened up the terracotta floors, the French-style beamed ceilings, the plastered walls, and the original tuffeau stone fireplaces in almost all the rooms.
The ground floor
You step into a large hallway that connects to two south-facing rooms: one on each side of the hall. One of these rooms is used as a bedroom with a shower room and lavatory in its adjoining pavilion. The other one is a music room that also has an adjoining pavilion. Beyond them, in the ...
