In Seine-et-Marne, within a landscaped and wooded park with two dew ponds,
a family home and outbuildings
a family home and outbuildings
Mormant,
SEINE-ET-MARNE
ile-de-france
77720
FR
Location
The property occupies an ideal position in eastern Île-de-France, at the centre of Seine-et-Marne, just 60 km from Paris and approximately 30 km from each of the département's two most emblematic towns: medieval Provins, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and imperial Fontainebleau.
Verneuil-l'Étang station (5 km) and Mormant station (3 km) are both served by the Transilien line, with hourly trains to Paris-Est taking 45 minutes and one hour respectively, including at weekends. Both villages offer a full range of shops and supermarkets. The forest of Villefermoy is approximately 10 minutes by road.
The village, though neither listed nor historic, has retained its picturesque character.
Description
A two-leaved wrought-iron gate, flanked by kennels and bird shelters, opens onto a first dew pond and leads into a cobbled courtyard extending into the grounds beyond. To the left stands a large family house, oriented north–south and rising over three levels above two cellars that occupy the full footprint of the building. Built in the 19th century in the Brie style, its rendered stone facades have a dressed-stone plinth course and numerous small-paned rectangular windows fitted with painted wooden louvred shutters. The gabled roof, well maintained, is clad in old flat tiles, surmounted by two brick chimney stacks and punctuated by a few roof lights. The main house's ground floor contains the principal reception rooms: two drawing rooms, a dining room, a games room and a kitchen; the first level has eight bedrooms; the second, converted within the roof space, provides six rooms for use as summer or additional bedrooms.
To the right of the gate, fronting the street, stand outbuildings comprising a garage and storeroom, party-wall with the neighbours' barn — a structure with brick-and-stone walls under a gabled roof of flat interlocking tiles.
The landscaped, wooded grounds are enclosed by walls and contain two dew ponds, around which an impressive variety of fruit trees grows alongside other plant species and shrubs. At the far end, in the wooded section, the second dew pond adjoins an open stone barn roofed with interlocking tiles, its enclosure and a remnant of old vines. A small tool shelter stands nearby.
To the right of the gate, fronting the street, stand outbuildings comprising a garage and storeroom, party-wall with the neighbours' barn — a structure with brick-and-stone walls under a gabled roof of flat interlocking tiles.
The landscaped, wooded grounds are enclosed by walls and contain two dew ponds, around which an impressive variety of fruit trees grows alongside other plant species and shrubs. At the far end, in the wooded section, the second dew pond adjoins an open stone barn roofed with interlocking tiles, its enclosure and a remnant of old vines. A small tool shelter stands nearby.
The house
The main entrance is reached by a short flight of steps with a wrought-iron handrail leading to a small terrace. A glazed double door with wrought-iron grilles and a fanlight above opens onto the interior. A secondary glazed service door is set at the right-hand end of the rear elevation. The west gable wall faces the dew pond between the street and the cobbled courtyard. To the east, the gable wall is served by a stone staircase giving onto a small terrace with views over the wooded garden.
The ground floor
Three French windows define this level. The main entrance, on the south side, opens into a large, light-filled drawing room with two small-paned casement windows. A functional black marble fireplace anchors the room, its floor laid with original hexagonal terracotta tiles. Beyond, a smaller drawing room shares the same features. A dining room follows, also floored in terracotta tiles and well lit by two similar windows.
A central corridor serving all ground-floor rooms leads to the kitchen, a large back kitchen used for storage, a bathroom, a lavatory, a windowed storage cupboard and two half-landings giving onto two staircases: a stately oak staircase on the kitchen side, and one with oak treads and a wrought-iron handrail ascending from the study. The kitchen retains its original character, its authenticity heightened by a period stone sink. The room at the rear, currently a games room, would readily serve as a study or ground-floor bedroom: dual-aspect, with a French window opening onto a small private terrace and views over the main lawn.
The first floor
Broadly mirroring the layout of the ground floor, this level has a corridor serving seven of the eight bedrooms. Pine parquet runs throughout. All bedrooms interconnect except one, which opens directly onto the corridor; one bedroom, set between two others, has no independent access. Each room has a small-paned casement window, most with period casement fasteners; several are distinguished by a marble fireplace, and three also have a washbasin.
A shower room and a lavatory are accessible from the corridor.
The attic
The uppermost level, partially fitted out and unheated, contains six rooms for use as summer or additional bedrooms, floored with antique terracotta tiles.
The basement
The two cellars span the full footprint of the house. The first houses the boiler and oil tank and contains a well with a pump for discharge to the dew pond.
The grounds
Stone-walled, grassed and wooded, the grounds contain two dew ponds: one in the woodland at the far end, with a small landing stage; the other on the west side of the house. The ponds no doubt explain the remarkable variety of wild birds recorded on the property — over fifty species, among them grey heron, black kite, tawny owl, grey partridge, moorhen, herring gull, nightingale, icterine warbler, song thrush, spotted flycatcher, chaffinch and goldfinch.
The trees and flowering plants typical of woodland are equally diverse: conifer, yew, marcescent oak, ash, cedar, elm and maple, alongside magnolia, forsythia, prunus, lilac, cyclamen, elder, horse chestnut and lime. The fruit trees are also well represented, with wild strawberry, raspberry, vine, fig, walnut, pear, apple, peach, plum, wild cherry, English cherry, hazel, quince and medlar.
The former stables
To the right of the entrance gate, the former stables form a two-level building divided into two areas: one currently used as a garage, the other as a storeroom. This outbuilding adjoins that of the neighbour, with which it shares a party wall. Each area extends to approximately 35 m² on both levels, giving a combined floor area in excess of 130 m².
The barn
At the far end of the grounds, in the wooded section, an open barn stands within a small stone-walled enclosure. This was in all likelihood the gardener's domain — a place to overwinter plants and store equipment, with the old vines still growing alongside.
The tool shed
Once used by the gardener to store tools, this small stone structure at the far end of the grounds is now lost among the vegetation — and, by all accounts, a favourite haunt of children.
Our opinion
One might easily mistake this property for a nature reserve, so abundant is the variety of flora and birds — a richness almost certainly owed as much to the dew ponds as to the diversity of planting around the buildings. The barn at the far end of the grounds, with its enclosure, and the former stables offer further potential for a variety of uses.
The property offers a complete sense of elsewhere — a bucolic retreat for those seeking distance from city life. A thorough renovation drawing on the original materials and decorative features would reveal its full character; the many existing water points and the consistent layout of the two upper levels lend themselves readily to reconfiguring the numerous bedrooms into more functional arrangements with en-suite facilities.
Reference 383484
| Land registry surface area | 1 ha 78 a 22 ca |
| Main building floor area | 286 m² |
| Number of bedrooms | 8 |
| Outbuildings floor area | 215 m² |
French Energy Performance Diagnosis
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the website: www.georisques.gouv.fr
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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.
