An elegant 18th-century house listed as a historical monument on the banks of a millrace that joins the River Armançon in the charming town of Tonnerr
An elegant 18th-century house listed as a historical monument on the banks of a millrace that joins the River Armançon in the charming town of Tonnerre in Burgundy.
The property lies in the east of France's Yonne department in the north-west of the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region. It is nestled in the centre of Tonnerre, a beautiful town in the renowned Chablis winegrowing region. The Burgundy canal flows through Tonnerre, where there is a little port too. The home is also near the town's train station. From this station, you can reach Paris in 1 hour and 50 minutes by rail and the city of Dijon in 1 hour. Tonnerre is also close to the A6 motorway. By road, it is 2 hours and 30 minutes from Paris. The town of Chablis and its famous vineyards are just 16 kilometres away. Nearby, you can also discover the rich built heritage of the former lands of the Dukes of Burgundy, including the Château d'Ancy-le-Franc, the Château de Tanlay and the Château de Maulnes. And you can enjoy the rich natural heritage of the local region, including woods, a regional nature park and a national park.
The grand house lies on the main street that runs through Tonnerre, near the medieval hospital Hôtel-Dieu de Tonnerre. An imposing doorway leads into a court. Its carriage door is opened with an iron mechanism that dates back to the time of construction. The property used to belong to sister of Charles d'Éon de Beaumont, a diplomat who served King Louis XV of France. The edifice has two symmetrical pavilions without a central section. The elevations and roofs, listed as a historical monument, were recently restored. The elevations are plain, rendered and punctuated with rectangular or arched small-paned windows. They are characteristic of the 18th century. The roofs have regional flat tiles, three or four slopes that gently flare outwards and arched stone dormers. They are especially characteristic of local architecture. Lastly, the garden, dotted with age-old plane trees, extends down to the banks of a millrace that joins the River Armançon. This backd-rop offers the absolute calm of nature in the heart of a town.
The east pavilionThe east pavilion, which stands upon a basement, has an outdoor flight of stone steps that leads up to a glazed entrance door, which takes you into a small entrance hall.
The ground floor
The hallway floor is covered with Burgundy stone tiles patterned with polished slate square inserts. On the left, there is a spacious bedroom that has a bathroom with a lavatory. On the right, there is a large lounge and reading room, extended with a dining room beside a fitted kitchen, which has a scullery that serves as a boiler room. Lastly, a shower room with a lavatory lies beside a staircase that takes you up to the first floor.
The first floor
Two small wooden staircases lead up to the first floor. A long corridor connects to a garden-facing bedroom, a bathroom, a separate lavatory and a second bedroom, which is a double bedroom. Beyond an intermediate landing, a corridor beneath a sloping attic roof connects to two bedrooms, a lavatory and a spacious games room.
The attic
The loft space, used as a storeroom, has been converted.
The basement
You can easily reach the basement from the court via separate steps. There are two cellars down here. The first one has a vaulted ceiling supported by two imposing stone pillars. It is used as a technical installations room. Indeed, there is a water softener here. The second one serves as a wine cellar for the finest Chablis wines.
The west pavilionContrary to the east pavilion opposite, the west pavilion does not have a basement. You enter the ground floor via an elegant door set in an original stone surround that dates back to the 18th century.
The ...
