A property designed for events with two reception halls, a convertible barn and 2.5 hectares
of grounds with lakes, 15 minutes from the town of Amboise in France’s Loire Valley
of grounds with lakes, 15 minutes from the town of Amboise in France’s Loire Valley
Tours,
INDRE-ET-LOIRE
center-val-de-loire
37000
FR
Location
The property lies just north of the River Loire, whose valley is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is nestled in the east of France’s Indre-et-Loire department. The village is located 25 minutes from the city of Tours and just four kilometres from an exit on the A10 motorway – so you can get to Paris from the property in only 2 hours and 15 minutes by car. The charming towns of Amboise and Chaumont-sur-Loire are nearby. They draw many tourists. And different forests can easily be reached from the property too, including Amboise forest, Russy forest and Blois forest. These forests are ideal for bucolic strolls among majestic broad-leaved trees and are good for mushroom-picking in the right season. The property is tucked away in a rural backdrop with a patchwork of woods. This bucolic environment lends itself to long country walks.
Description
A country road runs through fields and forests to the hamlet where the property lies. The edifices here were once farm buildings. But over the course of the centuries they have been converted into dwellings. They include a former tithe barn that dates back to 1570. Indeed, this former tithe barn is a token of the hamlet’s origins. The country road first runs alongside a barn and past a vast parking area. It then leads to a gravel drive with a tree-dotted garden on one side and a lake on the other. In the property’s inner court, there is a first dwelling on one side and a second dwelling on another side. The former tithe barn extends the latter. This former tithe barn has been converted into a reception hall for 120 people. A few hundred metres away, another drive, closed with an iron gate, runs alongside a lake up to a building with a wooden frame and timber cladding. This building houses a second reception hall. It has an 80-person capacity and includes a kitchen and lavatory. Behind this second reception hall, there are three wooden chalets on a vast lawn. The property is rented out for events and accommodation. Its reservation schedule is usually full, booked up as much for summer gatherings as for end-of-year festivities.
The first dwelling
The first dwelling faces south. It is made up of two sections: a rectangular house with a gabled slate roof adjoins a long building. Its elevations of exposed stonework are punctuated with rectangular windows. In one part, there is exposed timber framing. Brickwork and tuffeau stone form the door and window surrounds of the rectangular house. Travertine forms the surrounds of the long building. The latter’s roof is covered with flat tiles and there is a band of slate tiles along the bottom of the roof. There are two dormers on its north side. In front of the house, there is a gravel terrace beside a tree-dotted garden.
The ground floor
From the court, a glazed door leads into a kitchen, which opens out into a dining room. Terracotta tiles cover the floors. The exposed beams have been whitened. A tuffeau-stone fireplace adorns a wall in the kitchen. A passage leads to a lounge. And another passage leads to a hallway with a lavatory and a bathroom fitted with a shower. In the lounge, there are exposed beams. A glazed door leads out to the terrace and garden. A wooden staircase leads upstairs. From the dining room, a door leads to a corridor that connects to a bedroom with a floor of terracotta tiles and a ceiling of exposed beams. This corridor then takes you to a hallway with a metal spiral staircase that leads upstairs.
The upstairs
The wooden staircase in the lounge takes you up to a landing that connects to two bedrooms. One of these bedrooms has a lavatory and a washbasin. They are filled with natural light from windows in the house’s southern gable end. The spiral staircase leads up to a third bedroom. This third bedroom has sloping attic ceilings. It is filled with natural light from a roof window and a dormer. The exposed beams of the roof frame can be seen here.
The second dwelling
The second dwelling has a first section that faces south and another section, which adjoins it at a right angle and extends the former tithe barn. Two of its elevations are rendered. Exposed stonework forms the court-facing elevation. The elevations are punctuated with doors and windows of varying sizes with surrounds of tuffeau stone and brickwork. On the court side, the slate roof has a broad twin-window wall dormer. From the road, a gate leads onto a gravel drive that runs past shrub-dotted lawns to a terrace, then to a balcony with a wrought-iron balustrade that looks out over a small lake.
The ground floor
From the inner court on the other side, three stone steps lead up to a glazed double door that takes you into a vast room that was recently renovated. This space includes a lounge with a dining area and an open-plan kitchen with an island unit. Two glazed double doors fill this space with natural light. One of them leads out onto the terrace. The other one leads out onto the balcony that overlooks the small lake. The ceiling is made of wood and the walls are painted in a pale tone, in harmony with the kitchen's modern tiling. Large square tiles adorn the floor. At the bottom of the wooden staircase that takes you up to the first floor, a door leads into a lavatory. At the end of the room, another door leads into a bedroom with a shower room and lavatory, designed for people with reduced mobility.
The upstairs
A landing connects to a shower room and a lavatory, then leads to a corridor that connects to three bedrooms with sloping attic ceilings. Wood-strip flooring extends across the rooms and the walls are painted.
The former tithe barn
The former tithe barn faces east and west. It is a rectangular structure that was built in 1570. It is crowned with a gabled roof of flat tiles with a band of slate tiles along the bottom. Four roof windows punctuate the roof on its west side. The edifice’s elevations are rendered and its quoins are made of brick. In the facade, there are three glazed double doors with wooden lintels. There is also a metal door and a rectangular window. A protruding roof section shelters the main entrance door. A drive lined with lawns and shrubs leads to a gravelled area in front of an entrance gate. In the western elevation, which faces the court, three doors lead outside.
The ground floor
Most of this former tithe barn is taken up by a reception hall with a 154m² floor area. The reception hall has France’s accreditation for a building to be opened to the public. It has a 120-person capacity. The room’s walls are plastered and its floor tiled. Its roof-frame beams are exposed. Its ceiling height, up to roof ridge, reaches 6.6 metres. The hall is bathed in natural light from large double-glazed French windows and roof windows. This natural brightness is brought out by the white paint of the ceiling slopes. At one end of the hall, two doors lead to a kitchen. There is a counter, a cloakroom and a lavatory designed for people with reduced mobility.
The second reception hall
The building that houses the second reception hall has a wooden frame and timber cladding. It is crowned with a gabled slate roof. The building faces north and south. Its elevations are punctuated with large double-glazed windows framed with wood on one side and aluminium on the other. A terrace with a marquee lies beside the reception hall and looks out at a large lake. A lean-to extension protrudes from the building’s south side.
The ground floor
The hall offers an 80m² floor area and can host up to 80 people. Its floor is tiled and its walls painted white. Exposed beams run across the ceiling. On one side, a door leads to a staircase that takes you upstairs. The first floor could be converted. Another door leads to a bathroom with a shower and two lavatories, one of which is designed for people with reduced mobility. At one end of the hall, two glazed doors lead out onto the 45m² terrace, which is currently covered with a marquee. Opposite the entrance, a door leads to a kitchen in the lean-to extension. You can also enter this kitchen from outside.
The large lake
The large lake lies on a plot that covers around 1.5 hectares. It is surrounded by trees of different species. A footpath runs around the whole lake. On the banks of the lake, on the side where the reception hall stands, there is a vast lawn with wooden tables and benches in the shade of trees. At one end of the lawn, there are three timber chalets. Other structures could be built here too.
The barn
The barn lies on the other side of the road, on a 2,000m² plot. It faces north and south. The building is made of rubble stone. There is an arched door in its northern elevation and two large, sliding metal doors in the southern elevation. Brickwork forms its door surrounds and quoins. The barn’s slate roof was recently renovated. Inside, it offers a 100m² surface area. It has been left in its original state. Yet this barn could be converted. And its tall ceiling height, all the way up to the roof ridge, gives you the possibility of creating different levels inside.
Our opinion
This delightful country property is currently rented out for events and stays. It is remarkably well maintained. The complex can offer a range of services with its two spacious reception halls: the former tithe barn can be used for elegant events and the lakeside timber edifice can be used for more casual gatherings. The charming old architecture, with its simplicity and authenticity, reveals interiors with splendid modern comfort. The equipment already fitted makes it possible for you to carry on with the events and accommodation business. And the property opens up exciting possibilities for development too, either on the banks of the large lake or in the barn that could be converted. In this bucolic haven of calm, an entrepreneur could bring a new project to fruition in a beautiful region of France that draws many visitors and can be reached from Paris quickly and easily.
895 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 666794
| Land registry surface area | 2 ha 42 a 28 ca |
| Main building surface area | 332 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 8 |
| Outbuilding surface area | 425 m2 |
| including refurbished area | 330 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.
