This mansion house is on a privileged site below the royal town of Loches, adjoining its ramparts and very near to the town centre. The main entrance, in a quiet street, is reached via oak wood carriage gates and an entrance porchway. The latter leads to an interior paved courtyard, overlooked by a good many of the house’s windows. A passageway leads from there to a wide terrace and then, via a few steps, to a garden. The main facade faces a mall.

The mansion house

This mansion house was commissioned by Lord Damour in 1772 with the consent of Louis XV. It was constructed from freestone and laid out in a square around an interior courtyard. Built on the site of an old coaching inn, it spans two levels, partially topped with attic space. The main section has a hip, slate roof, the other buildings have gable roofs. The plain but elegant, road side facade is dominated by the carriage gates. On the mall side, the windows are numerous and a door opens into a double vestibule. A cornice and a string course enhance the facades.

The ground floor
Crossed by the porchway and the passageway leading to the terrace, the buildings on the ground floor form two separate sections. In the main building, a door opens into a double, through vestibule. The first half is the entrance hall of the residence, housing a dogleg, wooden stairway and a toilet. The floor is paved with terrazzo. The second half, with strip pattern parquet flooring, provides access, on one side, to a lounge-library, with exposed ceiling beams and a beige marble fireplace. One of the walls is predominantly taken up by a painted, wooden bookshelf unit reflecting the Napoleon III style. The other side is taken up with a cosier lounge, with strip pattern parquet flooring, exposed beams and a black marble fireplace. Following on at right angles is a dining room, with terracotta floor tiles and a freestone fireplace. A door opens into the interior courtyard. Next, a hall area, with a storeroom, provides access to a kitchen. A picture window opens on to the terrace and the garden. One of the three doors on the other side of the courtyard leads to a laundry room, another to a vestibule housing a stairway going upstairs, and the last, under the porchway, to two rooms awaiting conversion.
The first floor
All the wings of the house intercommunicate. A landing provides access, on one side, to a corridor leading to two bedrooms, with strip pattern parquet flooring. One has a bathroom and a toilet, the other has a large shower room and a toilet. The first is decorated with a black marble fireplace, topped with a mirror and a trumeau, as well as ceiling mouldings. The walls in the second are lined with wainscoting and the ceiling enhanced with moulding. On the other side, attic space which could be converted can be reached via a few steps, then a hall area provides access on either side to a bedroom and a gallery. The bedroom features exposed ceiling beams and a black marble fireplace. A corridor leads to a shower room, with a toilet, and a little lounge, featuring a ceramic wood-burning stove. There is parquet flooring throughout. The gallery is extremely bright courtesy of large windows overlooking the interior courtyard. It has exposed freestone walls and a vaulted, rendered ceiling. Said gallery leads to a landing providing access to a large dressing room area, with a shower room and a toilet, on one side and a bedroom on the other. The floor is covered with strip pattern parquet flooring and the ceiling beams have been left exposed. A storage area completes this room. A wooden stairway goes down to the ground floor from the landing.
The entrance porch
This porchway spans a surface area of approx. 19 m². The ceiling beams are exposed and the walls are lined with storage space. It leads to two independent rooms on the ground floor.
The basement
One of the two vaulted cellars is accessed via the porchway, the other can be reached via the terrace under the ramparts.
The garden
This terraced garden, completely laid to lawn, is soberly decorated with a trellis supporting a climbing rose. It is enhanced along the ramparts with boxwood, decoratively trimmed into cone shapes. A well, on one side of the terrace, has stone coping and is topped with a semi-circular arch. This relaxation area is a subtle blend of stone and vegetation.