A renovated house overlooking the River Loire, in Monstoreau, between vineyards and slopes - ref 375677
A renovated house overlooking the River Loire, in Monstoreau, between vineyards and slopes.
The village of Monstoreau, between the former Anjou and Touraine provinces, in the Maine-et-Loire area, in the Pays de la Loire region, boasts tuffeau stone built houses along the course of the royal river, surrounded by UNESCO world heritage listed landscapes. The quays were previously devoted to inland water transport but are now teeming with local producers' markets, antique dealers and restaurant terraces. Around the village, lanes criss-cross the slopes planted with vines and dotted with caves carved out of the rock. It takes less than 20 minutes to reach Saumur and Chinon, from where Paris can be reached in approximately 1 hour 40 minutes by train.
The village's streets wind along the upper slopes that overlook the River Loire. The two-storey house was built on 18th-century remains and is made of tuffeau stone with a slate roof. The old residence was transformed into a modern house thanks to a comprehensive renovation that was conducted in 2009. Views of the countryside can be enjoyed through the edifice's wide picture windows as well as from its continuous balcony. On the ground level, two self-contained bedrooms are linked by a patio, which serves as an outside extension of the interior volumes. The edifice also boasts a vaulted cellar carved out of the cliff.
The house
The ground floor
The entrance opens into a vast living room looking out towards the river, which includes a dining area and an open-plan kitchen. Metal, ceramics and mosaics rub shoulders with hundred-year-old wood and tuffeau stone. In all the rooms, except for the lounge, the floors are tiled with slate. There are exposed beams and joists, while pieces of wood from the decking in the hold of a former cabined towboat have been incorporated into some of the walls. To the east, a window has been created in the wall to provide more views and opportunity for light to stream in. A modern walkway lined by a wall of windows links the main volume to the lounge and boasts straight wood strip ?ooring. It carries on to the balcony facing the setting sun.
The garden-level floor
There are two bedrooms on this level. On sunny days, they enjoy the natural coolness of the stone as well as views over the village. Each of them has a separate entrance, one from the spiral staircase in the lounge and the other via a quarter-turn stone staircase climbing from the living room next to the entrance. Each of the bedrooms has an en suite shower and lavatory. Outside, the two bedrooms are linked by a wooden patio on tuffeau stone foundations. A tuffeau stone vaulted cellar can be reached from this patio and is currently used as a wine cellar.
