A 17th-century inn with half-timbering and an enclosed garden, between Rennes and Saint Malo, on the central square of a characterful village - ref 43
A 17th-century inn with half-timbering and an enclosed garden, between Rennes and Saint Malo, on the central square of a characterful village.
BĂ©cheral is perched on top of a hill and dominates the fields, woods and lakes in the surrounding countryside. It is a medieval village renowned for its cultural scene and plays host to many bookshops in its granite-built houses as well as an antique book market, in the maze of its cobbled streets. It is renowned as a village full of character, with all essential everyday services, 40 minutes from Saint Malo's beaches and 30 minutes from the regional capital Rennes, from whose station high-speed TGV trains reach Paris in 1 hour 30 minutes.
On the village's main square, the property's half-timbered façade, boasting windows with Brittany blue coloured joinery and cob walls rendered in a bright golden yellow, immediately stands out from its granite-built neighbours. This approximately 300-m² former inn built in 1643 today boasts eight bedrooms for its guests, as well as the peace and quiet of its enclosed garden. The façade is embellished with fern leaf patterned half-timbering typical of the 17th century and possesses three vertical rows of windows, as well as a basement, above which there is a ground floor, first floor and two attic levels. Three, large, hipped dormer windows punctuate the slate mansard roof and are topped by terracotta ridge caps. In front of the entrance door topped by a granite semi-circular arched frame, a flowery porch is supported by five wooden studs and provides shelter for guests very close to the stands at the book market. Through the interior of the main house, there is an inner courtyard with a patio, an enclosed garden, a two-storey, converted former weaver's workshop, a restored granite well plus a former stone stable building with a slate roof. To the rear of the plot, a gate opens onto a peaceful street, where there are reserved parking spaces, overlooking the countryside.
The inn
The ground floor
On one side of the entrance corridor, a semi-circular arched granite framed opening leads to an approximately 24-m² dining room with an open-plan kitchen, boasting rendered walls and a vast stone fireplace. On the other side stands an approximately 25-m² lounge with rendered walls, a sizeable granite fireplace and exposed beams on the ceiling. The window frames are made of ashlar and a small opening high up on the wall was most likely used for passing documents to and from the street when, in the 17th century, the edifice was used for the royal commissioner's business transactions. The entrance corridor houses a lavatory with a hand-washbasin and leads to the central staircase as well as the garden to the rear of the house.
The first floor
The steps worn by time climb up to a landing with a lavatory which leads to a hallway, a utility room, an approximately 20-m² bedroom with adjoining bathroom and an around 30-m² second bedroom with a fireplace.
The second floor
This level stands behind the roof break of the mansard roof and was previously a loft, into which bails of flax and hemp were hoisted via the dormers, to be used in the weaver's workshop. Indeed, in the 17th century, the Hessian trade was a speciality of Bécherel. Today, the level possesses a landing leading to an office, a bathroom with a lavatory and three approximately 20-m² bedrooms with exposed beams, including one with a shell-marl stone fireplace.
The attic
This level houses two approximately 25-m² lofts which are used for storage.
The basement
This level can be reached from the garden. It has a surface of around 35 m² and is used for storage and as a boiler room, in which a condensing boiler was installed in 2022.The weaver's workshopThis two-storey edifice with a ...
