House with poolChateau-gontier (53)

Ref. 4360: Charming 19th C Mansion in Pays de la loire (Mayenne)
Built in the Haut Anjou region, close to a village, this charming family property is reached at the end of a lovely long avenue of elm trees. The first resource town is 4 km away, then Château-Gontier, 12 km away, is a dynamic town steeped in history. This ancient medieval town, through which the Mayenne flows, boasts a rich heritage of buildings. These include the former Ursuline Convent (dating from the 17th century), which now houses a national theatre, the Romanesque church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste (dating from the 11th century) with its interior frescoes, and the timber-framed houses and concentration of private mansions that symbolise the town's wealth. Paris is 295 km away, and can be reached by train in 1 hour 10 minutes from Laval.
This pretty manor house was built in 1850 on the site of a former manor house. Slightly overhanging, it dominates the skyline with a beautiful view of the village in the background. The house is built of stone with a slate roof. The tufa stone ornamentation is elegant. The lightness of this regional stone brightens up the facade with its cornices, surrounds and beautifully placed brackets at the top of the bays. The symmetry typical of this century makes for a very simple layout. The living rooms are often open-plan and bathed in light. Facing north-west/south-east, the house spans a floor surface area of approx. 260 sqm ) (the top floor has an attic).
-Ground floor: entrance hall (11 sqm) with stairway; to the left, dining room (33 sqm) with fireplace, kitchen (22.5 sqm) with separate toilet and wash-hand basin and communicating with the dining room; to the right of the entrance hall, lounge (36 sqm) with monumental fireplace, study (17 sqm), and a service entrance (9 sqm) with stairway. The living rooms on the ground floor are tiled with terracotta and cabochon tiles.
-First floor: accessed via the service entrance stairway, an attic suite comprising a bedroom, a shower room and a toilet; accessed via the main stairway, 3 bedrooms (14.5, 12.5 and 18.5 sqm), a shower room, a bathroom and a separate toilet.
-Second floor with sloping ceilings: 2 small bedrooms (16 and 17 sqm), a large bedroom (29 sqm), a bathroom and an attic (9 sqm).
The outbuildings include:
-A stone-built, slate-roofed orangery/aviary;
-A stone building with a slate roof and insulated roofing framework, comprising a pool house with a sanitary wc and a workshop;
-Old stone pigsties forming a courtyard to the north of the house; a garage in the eastern extension, attic upstairs;
-A large stone building, covered in natural slate on one side and synthetic slate on the other: it includes a bread oven, a garage and two former stables; attic above. Leanto at the rear.
With the exception of the majestic elm tree driveway that leads to the property from the south, the 2.47 acres of land stretches predominantly to the north and west. A courtyard is formed by the outbuildings to the north of the main house. To the west is the ornamental garden with beautiful trees (chestnut, lime, willow, oak, cypress, ash, Judas tree) as well as a small, well-thinned wood that includes a wooden barded shed covered in sheet metal; to the west of the house is the swimming pool (6 x 13 m), liner changed in 2020, connected to the heat pump, treated with chlorine. It was built around fifteen years ago. The configuration of the buildings, the vegetation and the layout of the pleasure grounds to the west maintain a good quality of environment despite the presence of the neighbouring farm to the north-east. A second gravel access road leads to the house from the west.