luxury listed houses for sale Sarthe, France

A 15th and 16th-century manor house, listed as a Historical Monument, its outbuildings and 12-hectare grounds in the Mayenne department. From the village, a small road leads to a private driveway up to the entrance porch, which opens onto a main courtyard. The driveway also extends behind the manor and provides access to two outbuildings located to the west. A third outbuilding encloses the courtyard to the east, near the entrance. Pastures spread out on either side of the driveway. One of them is continued to the north with the first part of an oak grove, which then unfolds towards the west. The manor’s courtyard is extended by a garden, which overlooks a small river. Two other pastures located on the other side are accessible via a bridge. Constructed partially over a basement level, the manor contains four floors, including two built into the roof space. Made out of stone and rubble and coated in plaster, its edifice is crowned with gabled slate roofs and stone rims, punctuated by dormer windows topped with sculpted ornaments. Stone mullioned windows cadence the façade and a double flight staircase leads to the front door. In the back, the body of the main building is flanked by a square tower with a tented roof, a staircase tower and a round tower with a pointed roof. To the east, a small two-storey, hipped slate roof building is attached to the square tower. A cellar, accessible from the outside, is located under a portion of the manor. Its walls are made out of small sandstone masonry, which could date to the 11th and 12th centuries. The manor’s façades and roof, as well as its eastern two-storey wing, are listed as historical monuments.

A neo-Gothic chateau, granted regional Historical Monument status, with nearly 5 ha of grounds, meadows & woods, on a hillside in the Loire Valley. On the edge of the Bercé public woodland and on the outskirts of a picturesque village with shops, the estate, set back and sheltered from view, is surrounded by hedges or old walls topped with metal railing. As for the property, it is laid out around the chateau, the latter of which is built up against the hillside and nestled within grounds that combine pastures, AOC vineyards and woods, while the edifice, built from 1908 to 1913 and recognised as a regional Historical Monument since 1984, is characteristic of the flamboyant neo-Gothic style, very much in fashion among the aristocracy and the upper middle class at that time. With a floor area of approximately 275 m², it has four storeys including a garden level as well as one under the eaves, whereas its slate roofs are punctuated by many dormers, the latter of which were constructed out of tuffeau stone as were the chateau’s cornices, quoins and window/door surrounds. To the east and west, stone staircases, safeguarded by bannisters, provide access to an entrance hall and a kitchen, while a patio overlooking the garden skirts its western exterior. Featuring flint from the Loir River valley, which dialogues with sculpted tuffeau stone in order to recreate the aesthetics of a knightly manor, the chateau’s exterior architecture invokes the medieval repertory, with the systematic use of the Gothic arch, lancets and stained glass in order to provide plenty of light and a feeling of verticality. In addition, a pepperpot turret, supported by moulded corbels, abuts the dwelling and is topped with a slate candle-snuffer roof, whereas wide stone cross windows cadence the ground floor and geminated windows, topped with delicately sculpted Gothic arches, provide plenty of natural light for the upstairs level. Lastly, an openwork stone balustrade with an eye-catching quatrefoil motif creates a remarkable centrepiece for the chateau’s southern gable end.

A chateau from the late 17th century, listed as a Historical Monument, its outbuildings and equestrian facilities on 18 hectares of grounds, near Sablé, between the Sarthe, Mayenne and Maine-et-Loire departments. Two drives lead to a carriage entrance topped with a pediment that opens onto a grand courtyard. On one side, is the chateau and, on the other, an immense outbuilding, both façades of which are punctuated by pruned yew trees, while a covered well is located in the centre. The current chateau corresponds to the former abbatial dwelling: this is where the Abbot resided, in the western wing of the abbey that once stood here. During the 18th century, the court was at Versailles and the buildings were spruced up and converted so they could be rented out, therefore providing the abbey with some revenue. With three storeys, including an attic level, the chateau is made out of plaster-coated stone and rubble stone. On the side facing the grounds, its slate hipped roof is cadenced by four bull’s-eye windows, while, on the side facing the courtyard, there are three attic dormer windows grouped together under a single pediment in addition to four other dormer windows. Both the chateau’s east and west exteriors are crowned with a pediment on their roofs, which is then repeated above the central entrance on each side. With window and door surrounds decorated with smooth rusticated stonework, the three doors on the chateau’s façade are topped with either curvilinear or triangular pediments, while its quoins, cornice and dormer windows are made out of ashlar stone. Inside, the chateau has conserved its original décor: cartouches, medallions, chimneybreasts, decorative window and door surrounds, wood panelling, marble and stone, while the size of the magnificent rooms as well as their floor-to-ceiling height add to the chateau’s overall grandeur. In addition to the topiary garden on the chateau’s eastern side, there is also a dovecote, orchard, vegetable garden, ornamental trees and a stream, which is straddled by an old bridge flanked by the columns of an ancient carriage entrance. All around, the grounds are made up of pastures, tall trees and a small wood, while equestrian facilities have been created to the west of the outbuilding, on the side facing the grounds. These include wooden paddocks, a riding ring and an area for the horses to rest and relax. The carriage entrance, the chateau’s exteriors as well as its entrance hall, vast living room, dining room and seven bedrooms are listed as national historical monuments as are the well and bridge, while the outbuilding’s exteriors and the dovecote are registered as regional historical monuments.