a 19th-century bourgeois dwelling, service quarters and 2.5 ha grounds
Location
La Ferté-Vidame occupies the historic centre of the north-west of Eure-et-Loir, at the gateway to the Parc naturel régional du Perche. A "Petite cité de caractère" — a French heritage designation awarded to towns of exceptional architectural and historical interest — it carries a rich built heritage, the legacy of a past both glorious and turbulent. The spectacular ruins of its chateau rise within nearly 1,000 ha of grounds, where formal canals and avenues give way to wilder woodland. Lakes and forests, peat bogs and country paths make the surrounding landscape equally suited to hunting, fishing and walking. The town has a full range of local shops and services, including a school and weekly markets. Verneuil-sur-Avre, a medieval town listed among the "Plus Beaux Détours de France", is 10 minutes by car; its station puts Paris 1 hour 10 minutes away by train. By road, the capital is 1 hour 20 minutes.
Description
The service quarters, separated from the maison de maître by the access drive, form a long building with a half-timbered façade surmounted by a mansard roof of flat tiles. They comprise the self-contained dwelling, accessible from the street, and a succession of storerooms — former stables, a woodstore, a cobbled garage. The 2.5 ha English-style grounds are entirely enclosed and richly planted, extending in depth from the house, away from public view.
The main dwelling
The ground floor
Reached by a few steps from the street-side door or by a stone staircase on the garden side, the entrance hall has a cement-tiled floor and coffered wooden ceiling, and runs through to the main baluster staircase. To one side, a first dual-aspect sitting room communicates with a second, lit by two street-facing windows and also accessible directly from the entrance hall through a double door. A corridor distributes a billiard room, a kitchen and a dining room overlooking the garden. A lavatory adjoins the billiard room. Floors are in straight-laid or chevron parquet; the kitchen is laid with terracotta tiles. Ceilings exceed 3.50 m and are framed by mouldings and cornices. Each reception room has retained its marble fireplace.
The first floor
The landing serves a first bedroom with its bathroom. A corridor running alongside the staircase balustrade leads to four further bedrooms, three with marble fireplaces, each adjacent to a washbasin point, a lavatory or a bathroom with shower. Several bedrooms can be interconnected as required. Floors are predominantly straight-laid parquet, with wardrobes fitted throughout. Wide windows overlook the town with distant rooftops, or the park's trees; ceiling heights amplify the natural light.
The second floor
Two former staff bedrooms with sloping ceilings and a washbasin point occupy this level. Floors are terracotta tiles. A hatch gives access to the attic, which cannot be converted.
The basement
Accessible from inside or via an external stone staircase near the kitchen door, the semi-buried cellars comprise a boiler room and various storage rooms served by a corridor with a water point.
The service quarters
The cottage
Presently vacant, it is accessible from the street or through a door — currently sealed — giving onto the cobbled drive at the property entrance. On the ground floor, an entrance hall leads to a fitted kitchen, a sitting room with a small alcove, a lavatory and a storage room. Street-facing windows have double-glazed frames. A staircase rises to the first level, where a bedroom with a wardrobe adjoins a bathroom communicating with a second bedroom, a lavatory and a study. A cellar extends below. The EPC for this building is rated E.
The outhouse
Accessible from the garden, the outbuilding is divided into several storerooms, each with its own entrance, which could be connected to form a single unit. It contains a room with a fireplace, a large cobbled garage, two woodstores, former stables, a large storeroom and a workshop. A staircase from one of the woodstores leads to the attics.
The grounds
In front of the maison de maître, a large red maple anchors the scene. The grounds extend to some 2.5 ha in a single unbroken stretch, with chestnut, lime and pine — many of them centenarian — planted throughout, woodland paths alternating with more open areas. A bridleway runs the full length of the grounds to a gate at the far end, giving onto another street in the town. Most of the boundary is walled, with occasional wire fencing. A semicircular 19th-century greenhouse marks the entrance to a former orchard and kitchen garden, where espalier pear trees flourish against sheltering walls. In autumn, their fruit mingles with the figs ripening in the small front garden by the street.
Our opinion
Through the gate, time seems to stand still. Sheltered from view and from the world's noise, the grounds — remarkable in scale for a town centre — stage their seasonal display through canopies of centenarian trees. Inside, every room still hums with the life it once held: Sunday lunches around a crowded table, confidences exchanged by the fire. With its wealth of original features intact, the house now waits for an attentive eye and careful hands to restore its full lustre. The position at the gateway to the Perche, the layout of the buildings and the extent of the service quarters open the property to many futures: year-round family life, gatherings among friends, an independent professional activity. Beneath the unchanging gaze of the great purple maple, the story can continue — and in a happy convergence, La Ferté-Vidame, carried forward by its own cultural ambitions, is preparing a lively future of its own.
682 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense
Reference 215698
| Land registry surface area | 2 ha 52 a 68 ca |
| Main building floor area | 300 m² |
| Number of bedrooms | 5 |
| Outbuildings floor area | 290 m² |
French Energy Performance Diagnosis
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.