Location
The property is nestled near the historical town centre of Dinan, in a highly sought-after district renowned for its calm and its closeness to shops. Dinan train station is only a few minutes away on foot, as is the famous square Place Duclos with its café terraces. The town of Saint-Malo is a 30-minute drive away. From the high-speed train station in Saint-Malo, you can get to Paris in 2 hours and 15 minutes by rail. And the city of Rennes with its international airport is 45 minutes from the property.
Description
The house
The ground floor
The ground floor its raised. You reach it from outside via a flight of front steps and an open-sided porch. You step into a vast, high-ceilinged entrance hall with a floor of rush matting. A wooden staircase leads up to the first floor and second floor. This staircase is painted white. It has kept its wrought-iron balustrade with a wooden handrail. An elegant brass orb crowns the starting post at the bottom of the stairs. The hall connects to a lounge and a separate kitchen. On the south side, a second entrance hallway connects to a walk-in wardrobe and a lavatory. This hallway also connects to the main entrance hall. The kitchen faces east, which is ideal for mornings. This recently fitted kitchen is practical. It has wood strip flooring. Its pale-wood work surface combines with beautiful grey furniture units. From here, a door leads straight to the dining room. A double door with panelling separates the lounge and dining room from the entrance hall. These two rooms take up the rest of the ground floor. They lead out to the property’s stone-paved terrace and garden on the west side via French windows. Wood-strip flooring extends across the reception rooms, which are embellished with mouldings and ceiling roses. These rooms also feature two marble fireplaces, wooden panelling, bookshelves and cupboards.
The first floor
You reach the first floor via the wooden staircase. A double door with small-paned glazing and an arched fanlight separates the landing from a hallway. This hallway connects to two bedrooms and an office that face west. It also connects to an east-facing office. One of the bedrooms adjoins a bathroom with a lavatory. The other one adjoins a shower room. The bedrooms have kept their old wood-strip flooring and dado panelling. There are marble fireplaces in the bedrooms and in one of the offices.
The second floor
The staircase leads up to the roof space, where a small landing connects to a bathroom with a lavatory on one side and to a hallway on the other side. This hallway connects to two west-facing bedrooms with views of the garden and to an east-facing bedroom. The whole floor has kept its wood-strip flooring and its old doors with doorknobs.
The basement
You can reach the semibasement via either the indoor staircase or a door on the east side, beneath the porch. Down here there is a cellar, a linen room, a workshop and a storeroom. There are concrete floors and earthen floors. The whole semibasement is ventilated and filled with natural light from basement windows on the west side and from small, narrow windows on the east side.
The garage
The garage adjoins the house. It offers space for one vehicle. The remaining space inside this garage is used for storage. Upstairs, there is a loft that could be converted. You can reach it via hayloft doors on the east and west sides.
The garden
Once you have crossed the gravelled court on the east side, a drive takes you past box shrubs and a range of other shrubs to a vast outdoor space behind the dwelling. This garden enjoys absolute privacy. A lawn extends in the middle of it. Trees tower around the edge of it. A path continues past box shrubs, a fig tree, apple trees and espaliered pear trees beside an ornamental pond with a fountain. A shed, camouflaged in the greenery, serves as a storeroom for gardening tools and outdoor games. From a stove-paved terrace, surrounded by rose bushes, box shrubs and hydrangeas, a door leads into the house. The house’s west-facing elevation is adorned with climbing wisteria and extended with a recently installed pergola.
Our opinion
This grand house, nestled by the old heart of a charming town, is remarkably elegant and in perfect harmony with its historical environment. The property has some truly precious assets: it offers clear views, a beautiful garden that is not at all overlooked, an abundance of natural light indoors, and absolute calm both inside and outside. The delightful dwelling has kept certain decorative features that date back to its time of construction, including wood strip flooring, mouldings and marble fireplaces. These decorative features have been well preserved by successive owners. A future owner could freshen up the decoration somewhat and convert the loft above the garage. This property would be the ideal pied-à-terre in Brittany, just a stone’s throw from the region’s stunning Emerald Coast and the ramparts of Saint-Malo. And Paris is only 2 hours and 15 minutes away by rail.
1 000 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 872717
Land registry surface area | 1011 m2 |
Main building surface area | 240 m2 |
Number of bedrooms | 5 |
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.