A carefully restored chateau with converted outbuildings, at the edge of the Sologne and Touraine areas, in walled grounds with vineyard views - ref 9
A carefully restored chateau with converted outbuildings, at the edge of the Sologne and Touraine areas, in walled grounds with vineyard views.
This property is located at the edge of the Sologne and Touraine areas, in a village on the banks of the River Cher, near to the some of the most famous Loire Valley châteaux: Cheverny, Blois, Chaumont, Amboise, to name a few. In this peaceful valley, vineyard landscapes alternate with fields, meadows and woods. Convenience stores including a chemist's can be reached on foot, as can a small local railway station that connects to Saint-Pierre-des-Corps and its high-speed TGV line. Paris, Tours and Blois are respectively only 2 hours 30 minutes, 50 minutes and 40 minutes away. The A85 motorway can be reached in just a few minutes and leads directly to the former province of Anjou and the ocean.
In a winemaking village, this property is naturally surrounded by vines. A long surrounding wall runs along a small street, protecting the property from the gazes of rare passers-by. Set back slightly from the road behind a large lay-by, two ashlar pillars topped with slate tiles frame a wrought iron gate. The recently renovated mansion stands at the rear of the courtyard. The seigniory was originally under the Archbishopric of Tour's jurisdiction and the building was erected in the 17h century by an equerry of Louis XIV. One of his descendants, also a king's equerry and commissary of ordnance, transformed the mansion in 1728 to give it its current appearance. With its classical architecture, the building presents great uniformity. It is made up of the central main section, flanked by two large pavilions at either side that are the same height as the main part but slightly protruding on both the front and rear façades, which are rendered as well as framed by stone quoins. All the windows are fitted with painted louvred shutters. The main façade faces east, while the rear façade and veranda face west. Both the central main section and each pavilion have a slightly raised ground floor, topped by a square first floor under an attic level with high ceilings below slate roofs. The main façade has five vertical rows of regularly sized, large paned windows, with two either side of the central row. The few steps of the stoop lead to a glazed entrance door adorned with ironwork. The lintel above the door is graced with an elegant, sculpted frieze. Both the pavilions on each side have only one vertical row of openings on the main façade but have two on each side elevation. Three stone, arched dormers in the roof, with pediments and oculus windows, top this façade above the entrance door and each of the pavilions. All the openings have been renovated, now boasting wooden framed double-glazed windows.
A small, round tower on one side and a small rectangular outbuilding on the other can be found on either side of the long gate separating the street from the courtyard. Next to the small outbuilding, there is another with a garage and a workshop. To the side of the mansion, between a flower garden and an orchard, a large outbuilding has been converted into two large, comfortable and inter-connected holiday lets. To the rear of the garden, at the foot of the local church, the swimming pool and pool-house can be found in a secure enclosure. Lower down behind the holiday cottages, the orchard is spread over two terraces, while at the bottom of the grounds there is a vegetable garden and a well. Lastly, to the southwest of the mansion, the tree-lined grounds made up of mainly cedars slopes gently away from the edifice. Beyond the surrounding wall, there are long ranging views of the neighbouring grounds.
The mansion
The ground floor
On entering, opposite the door, a half-pace stone staircase climbs to the first floor. In the centre of the house, an entrance hall leads on one side to a ...
