An old hunting lodge in eight hectares of grounds with a caretaker’s house, a dovecote,
a tennis court and outbuildings, 100 kilometres from Paris in the River Ourcq valley
a tennis court and outbuildings, 100 kilometres from Paris in the River Ourcq valley
Fère-en-Tardenois,
AISNE
picardy
02130
FR
Location
The property is tucked away in undulating countryside where the Paris region meets the French provinces of Champagne and Picardy. It is isolated, nestled four kilometres from a small town with shops and around 3,500 inhabitants.
Description
Tall hedges hide the property beside a secondary road. It lies at the edge of a forest, six hectares of which belong to the property.
A caretaker’s house stands by the property’s entrance gate. The hunting lodge is lower down, as are the outbuildings and a dovecote, which lies opposite the hunting lodge at the end of a long shady track. Behind the dwelling, there is an orchard and a tennis court. Parkland extends beyond them, covering around two hectares. The forest extends out from the parkland. Together, the parkland and the property's forested land form eight hectares of grounds in total.
A caretaker’s house stands by the property’s entrance gate. The hunting lodge is lower down, as are the outbuildings and a dovecote, which lies opposite the hunting lodge at the end of a long shady track. Behind the dwelling, there is an orchard and a tennis court. Parkland extends beyond them, covering around two hectares. The forest extends out from the parkland. Together, the parkland and the property's forested land form eight hectares of grounds in total.
The hunting lodge
The dwelling was built in 1873. It was sold in 1896 and extended in 1906 when a vast covered terrace was added on one side of the first floor. The building then served as a hunting lodge until 1947.
The house is made of rubble stone, coated with rendering. It has a basement, a ground floor, a first floor, and a top floor in an elegant mansard roof of slate and zinc. Along the roof, four dormers stand around a central dormer that has a stone pediment crowned with a decorative urn.
The facade is punctuated with five bays containing single-glazed windows in timber frames behind wrought-iron guardrails. The openings and articulation of the whole house form a harmonious structure that is elegantly understated in style.
A flight of steps leads up to the entrance door, which is positioned centrally. Decorative lions adorn these steps, guarding the grounds.
The ground floor
Right of an entrance hall with a floor of cement tiles, a corridor leads to a lavatory and an old gun room that has been turned into an office. A lounge and a dining room that connect to each other look out through the rear elevation. In these rooms, oak is the main feature: beautiful chevron parquet lies beneath French-style beamed ceilings, finely carved Louis XV panelling embellishes the walls, and timber columns flank a grand fireplace.
The dining room connects to the kitchen and a pantry. In this pantry, induction hobs, an extractor hood and an American-style fridge-freezer have been installed so as to not spoil the charming authenticity of the old kitchen with its wood-burning stove and its cabochon-patterned black and white stone floor tiling.
The first floor
From the entrance hall, the staircase’s gracious spiral with its simple balustrade of straight wrought-iron balusters winds upstairs and is reflected in a mirror. The landing connects to three bedrooms, one of which leads out onto a covered terrace of around 29m². Mouldings embellish their ceilings. Dado panelling and marble fireplaces adorn these bedrooms too. Also on this floor there is a bathroom with large cupboards, a walk-in wardrobe, a shower room and a lavatory. Wood strip flooring extends across the whole level, except in the shower room, where the floor has been modernised.
The second floor
A landing connects to four bedrooms, a bathroom, a lavatory and a roof space. This floor is simpler than the one below it. It has no special ornamentation, yet its rooms are spacious. The roof space could be converted.
The basement
A flight of stairs leads down to a basement beneath the staircase in the entrance hall. The basement is divided into six rooms, including a wine cellar, a wood store, a workshop, a pantry, and a boiler room, which houses an electric boiler.
The caretaker’s lodge
The caretaker’s lodge offers a floor area of around 120m². This two-storey house is made of rubble stone, rendered with roughcast, and it is crowned with a roof of interlocking tiles. Its window frames are made of PVC, set in red-brick surrounds. Its entrance door is partly glazed and stands beneath a fanlight.
A central corridor with a floor of cement tiles connects to four rooms on the ground floor: a kitchen, a bedroom, a lavatory and a lounge with an office.
On the first floor, there are two bedrooms and a bathroom.
The outbuildings
There is a two-storey building made of rubble stone rendered with roughcast. On its ground floor, there is a workshop, an old laundry room, a storeroom and a vast garage for three vehicles. On its first floor, there are three bedrooms with washbasins, a lavatory and an extensive loft space. This loft space could be converted.
The dovecote
The two-storey dovecote offers a floor area of around 25m². It is made of rubble stone that is rendered. A tower crowned with a tall pyramidal slate roof stands out on the building’s roof of interlocking tiles. There are three rooms on the ground floor and one room upstairs.
Our opinion
This delightful haven, only an hour from Paris, is no longer the hub for huntsmen that it once was. Yet you can still imagine the joyful gatherings that would take place here after hunts. The property has kept its hospitable atmosphere and welcoming charm. Its vast spaces lend themselves to large, convivial meals in a bucolic backdrop.
Reference 155404
| Land registry surface area | 7 ha 91 a 64 ca |
| Main building surface area | 390 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 7 |
| Outbuilding surface area | 300 m2 |
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NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
