A restored 17th-century chateau and outhouses in four hectares of
grounds, nestled in a village in France’s Centre Val-de-Loire region
grounds, nestled in a village in France’s Centre Val-de-Loire region
Fay-aux-Loges,
LOIRET
center-val-de-loire
45450
FR
Location
The property is nestled in a town of around 3,800 inhabitants in France’s Loiret department. The Canal d'Orléans waterway runs through this town, which lies in Orléans forest. The town offers essential shops and amenities for everyday needs. Outstanding built heritage abounds along the River Loire in quaint villages. Majestic chateaux dot the region. The property is five kilometres from the Saint-Denis-de-l'Hôtel airfield. You can reach Paris in two hours by car via the A6 and A10 motorways or via the N20 trunk road. The beautiful city of Orléans is only 22 kilometres away. From there, you can get to the French capital in just one hour by rail.
Description
The chateau was built in the 17th century. It is surrounded by woods and meadows. The feudal lords who lived here, one after the other, ran the place like a farm. The four-hectare property lies in the town centre. You reach it via a large iron gate. A long tree-lined driveway then leads up to the chateau. The grounds are entirely enclosed with an outer wall punctuated with several doorways. The town is very old. It was traditionally a place of stonecutters. The local quarries were used up to the early 20th century. The buildings on the property are made of Fay stone, which is light grey, are they are crowned with slate roofs. Their elevations are rendered. The property is organised around a range of buildings with different purposes. On the south side, there is the large main dwelling. Its windows are evenly spaced out in line with each other. A long wing adjoins it. This wing is now a guesthouse. There is also a dovecote and outbuildings. The structures are arranged around a gravel courtyard and a garden. On the north side, a vast area of tree-dotted parkland extends behind the chateau.
The chateau
The chateau was built in a Renaissance style. On both its south and north elevations, the windows are evenly spaced out in line with each other, stressing the architectural principles of balance and proportion. The edifice is rectangular. It is made of stone and rendered. It has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor in the roof space. All the windows are set in surrounds of exposed dressed stone. Many of them are fitted with wooden louvred shutters. The large number of windows across the facade heralds a bright dual-aspect interior where natural light floods the rooms, the ceiling heights of which are above three metres. The two entrance doors are capped with arched pediments. The edifice’s hipped slate roof is punctuated with arched dormers. Brick chimney stacks rise up from the roof, which is crowned with steel finials.
The ground floor
A vast entrance hall connects to all the rooms on the ground floor. Its floor is adorned with stone tiles patterned with small black square inserts. Its walls are embellished with painted wooden dado panelling. Two glazed doors lead out into the front courtyard and the rear parkland respectively.
On the right, there are two lounges. The rooms connect to each other via wooden double doors. Chevron parquet extends across the floor. Dado panelling adorns the walls. Exposed beams painted white run across the ceilings. Ceramic stoves have replaced the fireplaces. The old timber hoods have become decorative features.
On the left, there is a fitted kitchen. It has wooden furniture units. And its work surfaces and backsplash panels are made of granite. This kitchen features a remarkable stove that was finely crafted by the specialist firm Sergio Leoni. Its floor of stone tiles patterned with small black square inserts is the same as the floor in the entrance hall. Dado panelling runs around the room. The walls are painted white. A ceiling rose adorns the ceiling, which is underlined with a cornice.
A wooden double door leads into a stairwell with a floor of stone tiles patterned with small black square inserts. Here a flight of oak stairs with two quarter turns and a finely crafted wrought-iron balustrade leads upstairs. There is a lavatory with a washbasin here too. A wall painting depicting a landscape embellishes the stairwell walls all the way up to the top floor. An oak door leads into the guesthouse. A corridor of stone floor tiles connects to a scullery and a utility room.
This ground floor offers a floor area of around 160m².
The first floor
The first floor offers a floor area of around 115m². It includes three spacious bedrooms, a bathroom with a lavatory and washbasin, and a walk-in wardrobe. The alcoves of the tall windows are fitted with window seats or wooden footrests. The rooms are painted white. One of them features wall paintings and a bed alcove. They include stone fireplaces, niches, dado panelling and built-in wardrobes. The floors are adorned with square and hexagonal terracotta tiles painted light grey.
The second floor
The top floor offers a floor area of around 125m². It takes up the roof space and has sloping attic ceilings. Its decorative features and layout are similar to those of the first floor. A long corridor with a view of the beautiful grounds connects to four bedrooms, a walk-in wardrobe and a shower room with a lavatory and washbasin. All the rooms look out at the front courtyard.
The guesthouse
The guesthouse is a building that dates back to a period before the 17th century. It offers a floor area of around 290m². A large vaulted cellar extends beneath it. This building used to be the chateau’s kitchen. Some features bear witness to this former purpose: cellars, a stone sink and an old-style stone oven. The latter has a lower alcove for embers and an upper compartment for cooking meals. The guesthouse is rectangular. It has a ground floor and a first floor. It is made of Fay stone and is crowned with a gable slate roof. Exposed dressed stone forms the door and window surrounds. A paved pathway extends at the foot of its south-facing facade, which leads out to the garden, the outbuildings and the lush esplanade. The building could be divided into two apartments offering liveable floor areas of around 125m² and 155m² respectively. The source of heating is mixed: there is electricity and wood-fired heating. All the windows are double-glazed.
The ground floor
The ground floor offers a floor area of around 155m². It includes a kitchen with a pantry, a lavatory with a washbasin, and a lounge with a wood-burning stove. A spiral staircase of timber and iron leads upstairs. There is a second kitchen. It is an open-plan kitchen with a fireplace and a wood-burning stove. A lavatory and a corridor with a storeroom complete this ground floor. A second staircase made of wood leads upstairs. The floors are adorned with old terracotta tiles. The walls are painted white. Some of the window surrounds are made of exposed dressed stone. Exposed beams run across the ceilings.
The upstairs
The first floor offers a floor area of around 135m². It has two corridors that connect to five bedrooms. These corridors also connect to a bathroom and a shower room, both of which include a lavatory with a washbasin. Terracotta tiles adorn the floors, which are brought out by white walls. Some rooms have a stone fireplace and exposed beams.
The dovecote
The dovecote is an octagonal tower capped with a roof of local tiles. A central roof lantern of slate crowns it. The structure adjoins the property’s enclosing wall. Its elevations are made of rubble stone and dressed stone. Inside, they contain 2,400 terracotta pigeonholes dug into the curved walls. There is a rotating timber ladder inside that is still in working order.
The grounds
The grounds are at once bucolic and landscaped. These outdoor areas are well proportioned, arranged around the different buildings. They offer far-reaching vistas and leave the possibility to create ornamental gardens, a vegetable patch and a medicinal herb garden. At the south-east end of the grounds, lawns and age-old linden trees run alongside the driveway up to the front courtyard. The grounds are dotted with conifers and flowering trees. In the north-west section of the grounds, grassy parkland is dotted with different varieties of flowering plants, as well as horse chestnuts, walnut trees, oaks, ashes and maples. There is also a well on the grounds.
Our opinion
Since the 17th century, this delightful provincial chateau built with local stone in a traditional architectural style has kept its original splendour and majesty. The family of those who currently live in it has owned this remarkable property since the 18th century. This family doubtless created the place’s Romantic country ambience of today. The lush garden is a bucolic oasis of greenery that blends harmoniously with the beautiful architecture of the buildings. The restored edifice offers precious assets: it is a short distance from Paris yet nestled in a calm, rural backdrop. Indeed, this rare gem promises a comfortable lifestyle to be enjoyed immediately.
1 250 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 532512
| Land registry surface area | 4 ha |
| Main building surface area | 397 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 7 |
| Outbuilding surface area | 100 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.
