A 17th-century chateau listed as a historical monument with 108 hectares of grounds, tucked away in France's bucolic Sarthe department, just two hours
A 17th-century chateau listed as a historical monument with 108 hectares of grounds, tucked away in France's bucolic Sarthe department, just two hours from Paris.
The estate lies in France's Sarthe department, just outside a village and less than 10 minutes from a small town with shops and amenities for all your needs. The surroundings are ideal for walks and horse-riding. The area is renowned for its wealth of built heritage. The towns of La Ferté-Bernard et Bellême are less than 30 kilometres away. The cities of Le Mans and Alençon are 35 kilometres from the property. La Ferté-Bernard is next to the A11 motorway. From the train station in this town, you can reach Le Mans or central Paris in around an hour by rail. And from Le Mans train station, you can reach Paris Charles de Gaulle airport in 1 hour and 45 minutes. The French capital is around 190 kilometres away.
The chateau is isolated in its natural backdrop. Two drives, closed with tall gates, lead to the edifice. On the north-east side, the drive that starts from the village, near the parish church and the former presbytery, runs alongside a large meadow, an English-style garden and a small wood where there is an old feudal motte and an ice house in ruins - a remnant of the first chateau built here before the 17th century. On the south-west side, a stream crosses paths with the other long drive, which is lined with trees and snakes through fields. The buildings are spread out between a raised terrace court and a lower forecourt that is partly enclosed with a water-filled moat. This pyramidal layout is centred on an avenue running from south to north and on the commanding position of the chateau's central section. In the raised court, the chateau forms a U shape around the terrace, which is edged with a retaining wall on the forecourt side to its south. In the forecourt, the main outbuilding, which stands in line with the chateau's west wing, houses a stable, a saddle room, a dwelling, a storeroom and an orangery. A tower marks the south-east corner of this landscaped plot. Set back on a plot that neighbours the west side of the forecourt, there is a barn with cowsheds and a press room, a hen house and a pigsty. The former caretaker's dwelling was restored 15 years ago.
The chateauThe chateau is made of rubble stone coated with rendering. It offers a floor area of around 750m². It has a central section with a basement, a raised ground floor and a hipped tiled roof. Two round towers adjoin its north side. And on its south side, two wings protrude from this main section at a right angle to it. The five bays of the central section have dormers at the top. Some of these dormers bear coats of arms. From outside, a symmetrical pair of flights of steps leads from the terrace up to the entrance hall on the ground floor. On the north side, the ground floor is level with the garden.
The base level
The basement extends beneath the whole of the ground floor. A long corridor on the south side connects to many cellars and rooms, including a storeroom, a boiler room, a linen room, cellars, pantries and workshops. Doors lead to the terrace and gardens from the two wings. In the east wing, there is a vast, old kitchen with a bread oven. It is listed as a historical monument.
The ground floor
The ground floor is made up of a series of connecting rooms. You enter it via the entrance hallway, which is in the middle bay. On one side, there is a staircase, filled with natural light on the south side. Next, there is a dual-aspect dining room and a kitchen in the north-west tower. The west wing houses a reading room, a small room, a music room, a bedroom, a photo laboratory and an artist's studio. On the other side of the hallway, there is a dual-aspect reception room that takes up two bays of the central section and then a passageway to the ...
