less than 50 km from Paris, in the Grand Morin natural area
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Location
In the Île-de-France region, in the Seine-et-Marne area, this estate is 20 km from the Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy TGV and RER railway station, but also approximately 10 km from Coulommiers, a town which boasts all the necessary amenities, including a market, town centre shops, hospital, schools and direct access to the A4 motorway, as well as a rail connection to the capital via the Transilien network in less than 1 hour. Crécy-la-Chapelle, nicknamed the “Venice of Brie” thanks to its many canals, is located around 5 km away. Many impressionist painters of the late 19th century stayed in this picturesque town. The municipality boasts convenience stores and a bus service to Coulommiers. Not far away, there is a golf club with 9- and 18-hole courses and a club house as well as hotel and restaurant.
The water mill is located away from urban hustle and bustle, in the Grand Morin natural zone. The only neighbours are in a house on the other side of the lane. The surrounding fields of crops are organically farmed.
Description
It has a gabled roof in traditional locally produced tiles and its elevations, which have been entirely restored and repainted, are rendered and dotted with windows of different sizes with large panes and louvred shutters. An indoor swimming pool underlines the home’s comfort.
The mill is surrounded by a vast wooded park, through which a stream runs, and overlooks a mill race, forming several islets. The estate is completed by approximately 7,000 m² of woodland on the edge of the Grand Morin area.
The mill also has two outbuildings. Firstly, at the entrance to the estate, there is a garage/workshop with a flat, grassed roof that blends in perfectly with the garden. Lastly, there is a brick-built outbuilding used for storage at the eastern end of the grounds, behind a hedge of hazelnut trees.
The mill
In the 14th century, it was used for milling grain and only possessed two storeys. In the 19th century, a three-storey extension was added to the original building.
The ground floor
It is divided between an older part - dating back to the 14th century - and a more recent part - added in the 19th century.
You can enter the first part on the ground floor via the old mill building, into an entrance hall paved with old square terracotta tiles. On one side, it leads to a small lounge, with a terracotta tiled floor and a tiled wood-burning stove. From the lounge you can reach an enclosed garden. There is a modest office adjacent to the lounge, with a window overlooking the mill race. The entrance hall also leads to a toilet, a storeroom, as well as the machinery room, which groups the elements for producing and regulating the current produced by the electric generator driven by the turbine. The machinery room is adjacent to the mill’s entrance.
The second part of the building, perpendicular to the first and up a small flight of steps, can be reached via an elevator harmoniously integrated into the house. A cast-iron spiral staircase dating from the 1900s leads to the upper level. An open-plan fitted kitchen with an island unit opens out onto a spacious dining room bathed in light, with a floor tiled with local Burgundy stone slabs. The room has many windows, including one opening to the east as well as French windows that open onto a balcony providing panoramic views of the mill race. A double-leafed glazed door leads to an outside patio and the banks of the mill race. Lastly, there is a 6 metre by 3 metre heated indoor swimming pool equipped with a counter-current swimming system and whirlpool jets. The room housing the swimming pool is fitted with a dehumidifier. Two large windows on separate walls give maximum exposure to sunlight and lead out into the inner garden. A walk-in shower and a toilet complete this relaxation area.
The first floor
In the older part, a corridor leads to two bedrooms with large ceiling heights as well as exposed beams and joists. A third room can be used as a small bedroom or an office. All the windows, which are south-facing, ensure maximum exposure to sunlight. A large bathroom bathed in light and a toilet complete the western wing of the mill.
For the most recent part, the staircase and elevator lead to a landing that in turn leads to a large through lounge bathed in light via two picture windows and three tilting windows, which give an admirable and soothing view of the mill race on one side and the stream on the other. Piedmont flooring - made up of old terracotta tiles crossed with oak lathes - can be found in this room. A functioning fireplace as well as exposed beams and joists complete the décor. The landing also leads to a master bedroom that is flooded with light through an east facing window overlooking the mill race and French windows that open onto the south-facing balcony overlooking the garden. This room also has Piedmont flooring as well as exposed beams and joists on the ceiling. A bathroom with walk-in shower and toilet completes this level.
The second floor
An oak staircase leads to a landing with a south-facing window. A short flight of steps leads to a fourth bedroom. A corridor leads to a vast attic measuring around 70 m² with a mezzanine of approximately 30 m². The presence of opening windows and wooden flooring mean this space can be easily converted.
A little bit of history
The final occupier of the mill under the Ancien Régime was the Duke of Penthièvre, who inherited the Domaine de Crécy estate.
The mill appears on Cassini’s maps - the first maps of France produced under the reign of Louis XV - and as such the mill has full ownership rights of the land and water. In the middle of the 19th century, the ‘privatisation’ of mills during sales of national assets led to merciless rivalry between millers. The government under the Second Empire re-established order and the Prefect of Seine-et-Marne began the process of regulating all the mills in the Grand Morin area so as to codify their use. The Prémol mill is therefore governed by a water regulation drawn up by the imperial administration on 31st August 1860, which is still in force.
As a result, from the second half of the century onwards, many millers stopped carrying out the work prescribed by the water regulations and abandoned their activity. However, the introduction of ‘low head’ turbines developed by a French engineer, M. Fontaine, began after 1870. The were economical, robust and could produce twice the output of the old waterwheels. All the mills equipped with these turbines have gradually disappeared, but the current occupant, an engineer by training, has remained very attached to the machinery of the mill and the smooth running of its turbine.
The outbuilding
With a surface of 60 m², it is used to store logs, as a workshop and for various storage. It was built recently and is located at the edge of the gardens, hidden by a hedge of hazelnut trees. It is linked to mains electricity and is brightly lit thanks to a large window.
The garage
The garage was built in 2018 and has a surface of 120 m². It is located at the entrance to the estate, has two windows looking onto the garden and two wide electrically-powered roll-up doors. It is hooked up to the mill’s mains electricity and water supply.
The grounds
The stream and the mill race run either side of the mill building. To the west, an islet can be reached via a footbridge from the garden beside the stream. To the east, there is a large patio between the stream and the mill race. Beyond it, there is a shallow basin of moving water fed by an underground pipe from the mill race. It is equipped with a sluice gate, enabling games to be enjoyed in the water.
From the metal footbridge dating from the 1900s, which spans the mill race from the islet to the garden, as the water flows by you can contemplate the changing landscape and the bucolic view of the shady banks.
The banks of the mill race stretch over 130 metres enclosing several islets, which are veritable havens for wild birds and ducks.
At the end of the mill race stands the weir, which provides the 1.10 m waterfall needed to operate the mill.
Our opinion
Between its traditional milling aspects, such as the original turbine, and modernity, such as its elevator and indoor swimming pool, this mill is as romantic as it is ecological, comfortably overlooking a mill race surrounded by lush vegetation. Dotted with islets that are refuges for birds, its grounds resemble a landscape painting in which water and nature are triumphant, far from any source of noise, odours or sights that could disrupt such an idyll.
The nearby presence of the Forêt d’Orient reservoir, plus the total and watchful control of the mill’s sluice gates by the current occupant, has made it possible to completely secure the mill, which, to date and despite the very heavy rainfall during spring in 2024, has never been flooded.
Reference 234903
Land registry surface area | 2 ha 79 ca |
Main building surface area | 330 m2 |
Number of bedrooms | 4 |
Outbuilding surface area | 180 m2 |
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.