A chateau dating back to the 17th and 19th centuries with outhouses, a swimming pool
and a tennis court in over 13 hectares of wooded grounds with meadows
Saintes, CHARENTE-MARITIME poitou-charentes 17100 FR

Location

The property lies in the Saintonge area of south-west France, near the spa town of Jonzac and its water park ‘Les Antilles de Jonzac’. It is close to a village in the Fins Bois area – one of the six zones that form the protected region of origin of the famous Cognac brandy. The old town of Cognac, 30 minutes away, is where King Francis I of France was born. The region, one of France’s sunniest, is rich in Romanesque built heritage. The Gironde estuary is nearby, as is the Atlantic Ocean. The climate is conducive to winegrowing. There are also countless woods here. Like many grand houses in the local region, this property benefitted from the rise of the famous Cognac brandy in the 19th century. From the property, you can get onto the A10 motorway in 10 minutes. This motorway takes you to Paris in 4 hours and 30 minutes. The high-speed train station in the city of Angoulême is one hour away. From there, you can get to the French capital in only 1 hour and 50 minutes by rail. You can reach the Atlantic coast in around 50 minutes. And you can get to the city of Bordeaux in 1 hour and to the city of La Rochelle in 1 hour and 15 minutes.

Description

The entrance that leads into the property is located beside a secondary road that runs along an outhouse on the property’s southern edge. There is an entrance gate in a tall wall. A square bartizan in the corner of the long outhouse keeps watch, looking down at this entrance. The complex of annexes form a U shape that lies opposite the chateau. Together, all the buildings create a courtyard in the middle of them. This court is dotted with a few trees, including palms and a silver wattle beside the chateau. The chateau has a ground floor and a first floor. It is crowned with a gable roof of terracotta tiles. An adjoining square tower with a slate roof protrudes from it, looking down over the whole complex. Exposed stonework forms its elevations, which are punctuated with rectangular windows. White dressed limestone with incrusted shells forms its quoins and its door and window surrounds. To the north-east of the chateau, there are tall trees, then a tennis court beside a meadow. Further east, there are two other houses on the grounds. They are small with roofs of barrel tiles and rendered elevations. The first of these two dwellings is a former orangery. A swimming pool lies beside it. To the north, meadows neighbour woods. And to the east, a river edges the grounds. A few walls bear witness to a stone breeding pond that was once here.

The chateau

The chateau is rectangular. Its main elevations face north and south. The edifice is centred upon a main dwelling with a ground floor and a first floor. An adjoining square tower protrudes from it. Canon-like gargoyles adorn the top of the court-facing elevation. Large, small-paned windows fitted with wooden shutters punctuate the facade.


The ground floor
The chateau’s former outhouse, which once stood to the east of the chateau, now forms a single entity with the chateau itself. There are three entrances leading into the edifice on its courtyard side. The main entrance door leads into a hallway that runs across the breath of the building. It has a stone floor patterned with square inserts and burgundy-painted walls that bring out the bright white tone of a monumental stone staircase. This staircase has two quarter turns and two flights of steps with a landing beside French windows leading out onto a front flight of outdoor entrance steps on the edifice’s north side. On the left, there is a large bedroom with a fireplace and herringbone parquet. It is bathed in natural light. On the other side, there is a bathroom with the same floor as in the entrance hall. To the right, a door leads into a vast lounge with a fireplace. This lounge looks out at the courtyard. There is a cosier lounge on the ground floor of the tower, on the dwelling’s north side. Further east, there is a hallway with a flight of timber backstairs. It takes you to a kitchen with an island unit. This kitchen connects to the lounge, which has walls of exposed stonework and a floor of stone tiles. On the north-east side of the lounge, there is an old stone sink in the wall. On this side, there is also a doorway that leads to a pantry. Further on, a small room with a fireplace serves as a cosy lounge. It leads to an office with a fireplace that is typical of France’s Charente area. A door leads out into the courtyard. From here, a quarter-turn timber staircase leads upstairs.

The upstairs
The landing at the top of the main staircase connects to a large bedroom on the right. This bedroom has a shower room. To the left, a corridor connects to two other bedrooms on the courtyard side and to a fourth bedroom in the tower. This fourth bedroom has a built-in wardrobe and a shower room tiled in a white and yellow checked pattern. A landing leads to the timber staircase that goes down to a space between the kitchen and large lounge on the ground floor. A shower room with tiling in a blue and white checked pattern lies in front of a last bedroom with exposed roof beams. Beyond this room, there is a mezzanine room that has been turned into an office and library with a staircase that leads down to the ground floor.

The outhouses

Opposite the chateau, there is a series of outhouses that forms a U shape around the courtyard. Roofs of barrel tiles crown these annexes. The elevations are rendered. Climbing plants grow up them. There are two other annexes: a former orangery, which lies beside a swimming pool, and a storehouse.


The outbuilding
The main outbuilding forms an L shape. It has a ground floor and a first floor. It lies just south of the chateau. It has rendered elevations with door and window surrounds of dressed stone. Roofs of barrel tiles crown the structure. Its entrance, at an eastern corner, is next to the building’s bartizan. This main outbuilding includes a dwelling with a floor area of around 160m². There are also artist’s studios and exhibition spaces in this building. The other spaces in the building, including a barn, a former cowshed, a garage and various storerooms, make up a floor area of over 600m². The ground floor has different spaces. To the left of the main entrance, a door leads into a room with a natural ambience where there is a smooth concrete floor that brings out flat stonework. This room connects to a tiled shower room. Next, there is a former cowshed. Like in the other room, smoothened concrete forms its floor. It has kept its old hayrack and trough. The room is fitted with a Scandinavian wood-burning stove. From here, you reach another room with a modern floor. There you can climb upstairs via a straight staircase with timber steps and a handrail made from a recycled copper pipe. The next two rooms are workshops. In the corner of the building, a vat room remains in the old stable, which now serves as a woodstore. An open-sided barn lies at a right angle to the main section. Beyond it there is an artist’s studio bathed in natural light from a large picture window. And in the western section there is a storeroom and a garage. The first floor also has distinct spaces. On the south side, there is a vast room with a pale floor. Court-facing windows fill it with natural light. Exposed oak beams run across the ceiling. Another roof space forms a spare room. And in the east wing that stands at a right angle to the main section, a corridor connects to four rooms: a lounge, a library, a storeroom and a bedroom.

The cottage
The main outbuilding includes a separate dwelling with a floor area of around 160m². It lies in the east wing that stands a right angle to the main section. This dwelling has a kitchen with a fireplace. From the main entrance, you reach this kitchen on the left. Next, there is a lounge and bedrooms with shower rooms. These rooms lead out onto a covered terrace with a mosaic floor.

The orangery
To the east of the property’s main entrance gate, a few dozen metres away, there is a small house. It is a former orangery. This dwelling forms a cross shape. A swimming pool lies beside it.

The garage
Beyond the swimming pool, towards the river on the east side, there is a small rectangular building with a hipped roof. This annexe serves as a storehouse.

The grounds

The grounds cover over 13 hectares. They are divided into distinct areas. The property’s north-east section is wooded. This woodland opens out into vast meadows south of it. A tennis court in good condition lies just north-east of the chateau. The grounds also include a swimming pool that is 11 metres long and 3 metres wide.

Our opinion

This vast rural property has true character. Its authentic materials and delightful colours are brought out. The place was renovated by an artist with impressive creativity and good taste. This country haven opens up a range of possibilities. It could be a calm home, tucked away in a bucolic backdrop but close to shops and large towns. Yet it could also be an ideal guesthouse, a perfect events venue or a unique art exhibition space. Indeed, its layout, both inside and outside, offers private spaces with many extensive communal areas too. The large floor area of its outhouses invites all kinds of exciting projects. Anyone who loves built heritage, wide open spaces and nature will be seduced by this remarkable property and will doubtless appreciate its full potential.

1 470 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense


See the fee rates

Reference 211706

Land registry surface area 13 ha 18 a 44 ca
Main building surface area 435 m2
Number of bedrooms 10
Outbuilding surface area 700 m2



French Energy Performance Diagnosis

Consultant

Ariel Dormeau +33 1 42 84 80 85

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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.

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