A bucolic home to be restored with 45 hectares of wooded grounds with a lake, tucked away in France's Indre-et-Loire department near the city of Tours
A bucolic home to be restored with 45 hectares of wooded grounds with a lake, tucked away in France's Indre-et-Loire department near the city of Tours.
The property lies in France's Indre-et-Loire department, in the Centre Val de Loire region and the historical Touraine province. It is tucked away near a vast forest. The house is surrounded by woods and moorland. Fields neighbour the grounds. The charming town of Loches, which is officially recognised for its built heritage, is 18 kilometres away. Its Saturday market is well known throughout the local region. From Loches train station, you can get to the city of Tours by rail. Indeed, a train runs virtually once every hour on this line. There are shops for everyday needs less than 10 kilometre away. And Paris is 250 kilometres from the property.
Along the edge of a wood, a driveway leads to the house, which is hidden behind tall trees. Its rendered facade faces south. It has stone quoins and a gabled slate roof with four gabled dormers at the front. Its small-paned windows and glazed doors along the ground floor are fitted with wooden shutters. There are two garages, closed with wooden garage doors with glazed upper parts beneath a strip of slate cladding. The north-facing roof slope has triangular dormers and shed dormers, bringing extra natural light inside. The interior needs to be completely renovated. On one side of the house, there is an outbuilding beside a courtyard. You can still see a former well on the grounds. The estate covers 45 hectares, which are mainly made up of woods, surrounded by neighbouring fields. A 1.5-hectare lake lies at one end of the estate.
The house
The ground floor
Half of the ground floor is currently taken up by a large room filled with natural light from four large windows and two glazed doors. A stone fireplace stands against the gable-end wall. The floor is terracotta-tiled. At the back, there is a kitchen, a lavatory and a staircase that takes you up to the first floor. The rest of the ground floor includes two spacious garages, which could easily be converted.
The upstairs
Up on the first floor, a corridor connects to three south-facing bedrooms. Those at the ends have a gable-wall window too. The largest of the three bedrooms lies above the garage. With its two front dormer windows, this big bedroom could be split into two rooms. The first floor also includes storerooms and a bathroom.
The outbuildingsTo the west of the house, there is a stone outbuilding with a slate roof. It offers an 80m² floor area. It brings together a former henhouse, a stable and a workshop. Set back, there is a metal agricultural storehouse with a 110m² floor area. It currently serves as a storage space for hay for donkeys.
The groundsThe grounds cover 45 hectares. A third of the estate is taken up by moorland and two thirds are taken up by woods of oaks, beeches and birches. Bridle paths run through the grounds. A forest edges the property on one side. Cultivated fields extend on the other side of it. The entrance driveway runs past a row of fruit trees. The house's immediate surroundings have kept some ornamental trees, including a linden tree, a birch, different varieties of evergreens and a spectacular leafless oak with branches stretching up to the sky like a sculpture. Pines tower around the lake, which lies at one end of the estate. A little bridge leads to an island on the lake.
