An elegant mansion with a 1,000m² floor area, two self-contained apartments and 2,000m² of grounds, in Béthune town centre in northern France, 1 hour
An elegant mansion with a 1,000m² floor area, two self-contained apartments and 2,000m² of grounds, in Béthune town centre in northern France, 1 hour and 30 minutes from Paris.
The property lies in France's Pas-de-Calais department, in the Flemish Artois province. It is tucked away in the charming town of BĂ©thune, the regional capital of culture in 2011. Historically, BĂ©thune is an upper-middle-class town. It prospered from textile in the Middle Ages and manufacturing in the 20th century. The elegant mansion stands in the old heart of BĂ©thune, just a stone's throw from BĂ©thune's town hall and its famous 14th-century belfry, which is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The property is surrounded by houses that were rebuilt in the wake of the First World War in a Flemish neo-Renaissance style. There are shops and amenities nearby. By road, the cities of Lille and Brussels are 40 and 150 kilometres away respectively. By rail, you can reach Lille in 25 minutes and Paris in 1 hour and 30 minutes. From Lille, you can get to England via the Eurostar rail service. And from the A26 motorway nearby, you can get to England via Calais, either by ferry or through the Channel Tunnel.
The mansion is characteristic of edifices built in the wake of the First World War by renowned architects like Marcel Griffon. It lies on the site of a former sugar factory, created by the Dellisse-Engrand family in Béthune in 1818. This was one of the first sugar factories in France. A commemorative plaque in tribute to Victor Amédée Dellisse, a civil engineer, member of parliament and politician honoured by Napoleon III, is still displayed on the edifice's facade. The dwelling is crowned with a hipped mansard roof. The mansion, made of ashlar, is typical of 1920s neo-classical architecture. It is embellished with wrought-iron balcony balustrades with motifs, fine mouldings and sculpted cornices with a wealth of details. The building has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. It is hidden behind an electric wrought-iron gate and it stands in tree-dotted grounds. These walled grounds cover 2,000m². The brick walls here date back to the time of the military engineer Vauban and were built upon the ruins of a 16th-century Franciscan monastery: Les Récollets. Indeed, opposite the mansion's facade there are the remaining columns and arches of a former church, which was listed as a historical monument in 1973. Part of the church's central nave remains. A driveway with a cluster of flowers and shrubs in the middle makes it easy for cars to enter and leave the property.
The mansionFrom the courtyard, you enter the mansion via an arched doorway with a glazed fanlight. The edifice has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. A flight of steps leads up to an avant-corps. Balconies adorn the main elevation, which displays pleasant symmetry and is punctuated with arched French windows with elegant wrought-iron guardrails. Beside the entrance, an extension was built by the current owner to house a kitchen and scullery. The mansion offers a total floor area of 1,000m². It includes several sumptuous reception rooms and many bedrooms.
The ground floor
When you enter the mansion through the main entrance door, you step into a sumptuous reception room: the Salon Mahaut d'Artois. This octagonal rotunda has a ceiling with mouldings and garland motifs. It is punctuated with pilasters between pale marble. The room features a fireplace of pink-veined marble. This remarkable reception room is bathed in natural light from tall, glazed doors. It connects to two other reception rooms: the Salon Philippe II and the Salon Charles Quint. These two high-ceilinged spaces together offer a 100m² floor area. Several walls are lined with wooden panelling and refined chinoiserie, inspired by exotic 18th-century reception rooms and the ...
