luxury houses for sale International (page 260)

In the south of Lot-et-Garonne, a restored family home with outbuildings and a swimming pool, set on 2.9 hectares of meadows and woods. From the departmental road that serves it, the property is accessible via a grassy dirt path, on either side of which extend vast meadows, punctuated by the presence of a neighboring plot and lined with trees that emphasize the natural boundaries of the estate. At the entrance, a first outbuilding stands like a lookout, marking the threshold of the property. Further along, another building distinguishes itself along the path to the house. Built at the back of the property, the house features an architecture inspired by Basque-Landes residences, a style recognizable here by the large awning that shelters the main facade, to the east. It is bordered at this location by a large terrace defined by a low wall, creating a pleasant and covered outdoor living space. A secondary awning, smaller in size, also creates a covered passage in front of the north facade. The elevations, made of stone, are all coated in plaster, simple, and pierced with straight openings of various formats and irregular arrangements, framed by wooden shutters painted in Basque red. The dwelling is topped with a two-pitched roof, renovated about ten years ago as part of works carried out to unite two small buildings into a coherent whole, raised over two levels. The wooded area surrounding the home creates a green environment with grass and trees while the swimming pool and the area set up for equestrian activities are located near the meadows.This description has been automatically translated from French.

A large, luxurious home, its guest house and its annexe buildings set in pleasant parklands in Narbonne, first daughter of Rome. Seen from above, the buildings are laid out in an L-shape. They include the main house, spanning approx. 280 m² with 8 bedrooms, an adjoining outbuilding, set out as an 80 m² guest house with 3 bedrooms, a garage and a shed. This property, just a stone’s throw from the centre of Narbonne, is kept out of sight of onlookers by approx. 4,630 m² of wooded parklands. These grounds shelter a large swimming pool, with a pool-house, and a vegetable garden. The main building spans up to four levels in the right-hand wing, giving it the appearance of a tower with a slate roof. The other buildings have tile roofs. In front of the facade, an age-old magnolia and cypress trees stand tall in Mediterranean-style parklands, enhanced with large, natural, versatile areas, bordered by immaculately trimmed hedges. An ornamental pool with aquatic plants, colonnades and Art Deco style ornaments embellish the garden. Tall entrance gates and a driveway leading from the main road are not currently used, the owners preferring to access the house via a side entrance in the parklands. Originally the holiday home of a wealthy merchant, this residence is now in the town, despite initially having been secluded, surrounded by vines and fields. Its impressive facade made it possible to conceal the wine storehouses at the back.

An 18th century manor house in need of renovation, with a garden and outbuilding, in the centre of a village near Vitré, 30 minutes from Rennes . Just a stone's throw from the village square and town hall, in a small street surrounded by listed historic buildings, the building has a wide rectangular façade with three bays. Just outside the door, a stone carving decorated with laurel leaves displays the prestigious name and rank of the master of the house, who had it built in 1786. Built over a basement, the house has two floors and an attic floor, with a total living area of around 217 m². The walls are weathered local stone, red sandstone, schist and granite. The slate roof is topped by three gabled dormers. The windows are framed in ashlar and have an arched wooden lintel at the top. The top of each window is decorated with mantling. A gate adjoins the house and provides access to the outbuilding and garden, which can be seen at the rear of the building. After climbing the few steps of the outside granite staircase, you enter through an old door that has the same motifs as the nearby 17th-century listed building.

A renovated 15th-century Breton manor with vast grounds and a medieval garden, nestled between Lamballe and Dinan in northern Brittany. The property is tucked away in a hamlet not far from its local town. Country lanes that snake through woods and meadows lead up to the property. The manor comes into view beyond a bend in the road. The edifice towers above its natural surroundings. The estate covers around two hectares. A shrub-lined drive leads into it. This drive takes you to a court. The manor and two outhouses stand around this court: one outhouse is a former dwelling and the other is a former barn. The manor was mentioned as early as in the 15th century. It was redesigned in the 17th century. Over a period of several years, the edifice was renovated by its occupants, who were driven by their passion for built heritage and history and by a concern for authenticity, quality and sustainability. They aimed to turn the edifice into a comfortable, inviting family home. The loft is insulated with cellulose fibre. The rest of the interior is insulated with hemp and earth for thermal regulation.

Two houses and a garden that an artist has turned into an original haven, nestled in France’s Yonne department, 100 kilometres from Paris. The property’s current owner, an artist who produces paintings, turned this ordinary two-floor farmhouse into a unique haven. The artist sought harmony here, using their own creativity and drawing inspiration from the aesthetic qualities of fine materials and from local craftsmanship. The result is today’s highly original property. Close attention has been paid to making it unique yet coherent. The property is enclosed behind walls on a quiet street. It enjoys absolute privacy and calm. From outside, it does not suggest the originality that it hides. A large double-leaf metal gate framed between two brick pillars leads straight into a grassy garden dotted with various water features. To the left, on the south side, there is a guesthouse with a central tower capped with a pyramidal roof that is crowned with a finial. To the right, on the north side, there is the main dwelling. It is an elongated building that faces south-east. A wing protrudes at a right angle to the main section at its west end. Just behind this wing there is a bakehouse. In front of the main dwelling there is an ornamental pond. An arched bridge of old flat tiles crosses it. The bridge is edged with a metal balustrade adorned with volutes at the end. Flat Burgundy tiles are the only material common to all the buildings on the property. Beyond the ornamental pond, an archway beneath a circular opening takes you to the other side of a decorative wall of round tiles. The property’s second section lies there. A vast space extends in this second section. Its south-west corner is marked by a retreat with a slate roof and stained glass of different colours. Alongside this retreat, there is a terrace covered by a canopy of glass and metal.

A 16th-century manor house and its wooded garden in the Suisse Normande region, 15 minutes from Falaise. Opposite the imposing 12th-century church of Saint-Martin, a wrought-iron gateway adorned with fine lance-point balusters and flanked by a Caen stone pillar topped by a gendarme opens onto a tree-lined driveway. A courtyard and terrace surround the manor house, which has an adjoining outbuilding on one side. On the opposite side, a gate leads to the back of the property and the garden planted with hundred-year old trees.

A modern eight-bedroom house with a 390m² floor area, hidden in 1.3 hectares of grounds in France's Yvelines department, less than an hour from Paris. The property, which covers 13,000m², is perched upon a hill, at the end of a cul-de-sac, which a footpath extends. Beyond the entrance gate, a rise leads to a court in front of the house. The dwelling was built in 2001. It has two floors and an attic. The dwelling offers eight bedrooms, four bathrooms or shower rooms, and a 80m² reception space that is extended with a large outdoor terrace facing the garden. The building is crowned with roofing of interlocking tiles. The house offers a total floor area of around 450m². Two garages and a vast workshop on the ground floor complete the living space of 360m², above which a converted loft extends. The house faces north and south. Large French windows in the ground-floor reception rooms open from its south face. On the ground floor, a hallway connects to a 60m² living room that includes a dining area, beneath a high cathedral ceiling. Two broad French windows take up a wall of this room and flank an open fireplace. They lead out into the garden. A spacious kitchen with a scullery adjoins this vast reception room. It leads into an area taken up by a workshop, garages and a cellar. Further on lie a utility room, a linen room and a guest lavatory. On the other side, there is a master bedroom, which includes an en-suite bathroom with a lavatory. Beside it there is a guest bedroom, a bathroom and an office. The ground-floor rooms offer direct access to the garden. The windows have aluminium frames and are equipped with roller shutters. The double garage has two large tip-up doors that open into the front court. It also has a pedestrian back door on the garden side. From one corner of this garage, you can reach a wine cellar in a basement below it. Upstairs, a landing connects to six bedrooms with wardrobes and storage spaces, a separate lavatory, and two bathrooms, one of which includes a lavatory. A passage leads to a 30m² loft space, which has been converted into a games room. Large windows fill all the bedrooms with natural light. Outside, the grounds covering 12,700m² combine expanses of lawn with woodland. This lush outdoor area surrounds the house. The grounds are partly sloping and extend mostly on the house’s south side. They are dotted with many trees of different kinds. There is also a heated swimming pool in the garden. This pool is 12 metres long and 5 metres wide. The garden is not overlooked at all: there are no neighbours. So swimmers and sun-bathers can relax in absolute privacy.

In a "Little Character City" of the Perche, 110 km from Paris, a bourgeois residence from the 19th century, its outbuildings, and its 2.5-hectare park. Located on a lane reserved for its few residents, facing a small, treed square devoid of housing, the residence reveals two façades, separated by a wide wrought-iron gate, framed by two tall pillars. On one side is an independent two-story apartment. On the other, sheltered by a small front garden, stands the main house. The ground floor windows are overhanging, out of reach of passersby. A door provides the first access to the residence, which spans about 300 m2 over four levels, including one basement. The gate leads to a paved driveway, which runs alongside the outbuildings and leads to the back of the master house. This includes a central section with a four-pitched roof of flat tiles and a wing in continuity, topped with a zinc roof, raised two levels over a basement. The façade, facing northwest, rendered in ochre tones, is structured by corner chains and brick and stone window frames. In the middle of the central section, a canopy overlooks two steps leading to the main entrance. Tall windows with large panes frame it. The ground floor houses the reception rooms and the kitchen. A wooden staircase with a three-quarter turn and sloping balusters leads to the first floor, where there are five bedrooms and five bathrooms or shower rooms. The ornaments and other period elements, such as parquet floors, fireplaces, woodwork, and wall cupboards, are numerous and well-maintained. The ceiling height is over 3.50 m in almost all rooms. Finally, a service staircase leads to the attic floor, where two small rooms, a toilet, and an attic are located. The outbuildings, separated from the master house by the access driveway, form a long building with a half-timbered façade, topped with a Mansard-style flat tile roof. It consists of the independent housing, accessible from the street, and various outbuildings, including former stables, a woodshed, a paved garage, etc. The English-style park of 2.5 hectares, fully enclosed and richly wooded, stretches deep from the house, sheltered from prying eyes.This description has been automatically translated from French.

In the Breton countryside, 30 minutes from the coast, a 19th-century mill and its reception hall, set in over 5 hectares of meadows and woodlands. Built of stone, the mill is located in the hollow of a wooded valley, by a stream that structures its organization. Accessible via a small communal paved road that descends into the valley, access is through a small drivable bridge, equipped with a painted wooden barrier, followed by a turning area. A dependency appears first, recognizable by its wide arched wooden door with panels, painted blue, framed by dressed stone. The entrance is preceded by a flight of steps made of patinated terracotta tiles, adorned with a wall lantern. The main building, raised with two levels under a slate roof with three dormers featuring triangular pediments, has facades made of rubble and simple openings. The millrace and the stream, still observable in the immediate vicinity, testify to its original purpose. The surroundings combine lawns, shrub beds, and tall trees (oaks, beeches, and sequoias), which open onto meadows and woods. Good-sized parking areas have been developed. Formerly proposed for event organization, the site retains suitable structures — reception hall, professional kitchen, and restrooms — ready to be reused or transformed (habitable area, indoor pool).This description has been automatically translated from French.

In Provence, in Roman Arles, a 18th-century patrician residence open to varied interpretations. The small street in immediate proximity to the arenas and the ancient theater belongs to the deepest soul of Gallo-Roman Arles. Every street, every stone, everything here is marked by history. Generations and buildings have succeeded one another, reinforcing the existing structures. The hill of Hauture, in the protected sector, preserves the monumental traces of imperial antiquity along with the architectural beauty brought to the city by the Provençal power of later epochs. This neighborhood has maintained its residential character with the extension over time of urban development to the west, as seen in all Western cities. A local scholar from the 19th century noted that the property, enclosed by walls, consisted of two houses in 1735 and had been sold at that time by a squire from Avignon. Oriented east-west, this stone building rises three levels in facade and offers approximately 290 m² of living space, set above a cellar basement suitable for maintaining the dwelling. The rectangular openings of the first two levels enclose the small panes of the windows under the arched entablature at a great height. The solid shutters have retained their wood and ironwork. Under the Roman tile roof, the old patinated plaster surfaces harmonize with the street. On the heavy wooden entrance door, the contours of the wooden work, the lowered arch of the stone entablature, and the typically rococo cartouche corroborate the architectural origins of the Regency-Louis XV edifice. Finally, the residence benefits from a concrete and landscaped terrace of about 40 m² on the first floor and, lower down, a garage with a similar area topped by a mezzanine, as well as a completely mineral back courtyard.This description has been automatically translated from French.

Close to Granville, by the seafront, an Art Deco-inspired villa and its garden. Built in the early 1930s, the 255 m² villa rises over three levels. The west facade faces the sea, the north side offers an unobstructed view of the dunes and beaches, while the south part overlooks the garden, which is bordered by a similarly grand villa. The main entrance is located on the mid-level, granting access to the upstairs and the lower garden level. The latter is also accessible through an independent door at the bottom of the street, on the north side. The garden is structured into several terraces, each connected by wide staircases. A separate outbuilding, at the end of the garden and facing the street, allows for vehicle parking. A complete renovation was undertaken in 2022. The foundations and retaining walls have been reinforced, the roof truss and its copper covering are new, and the windows are made of aluminum. The finishing works, installations, and final touches are yet to be carried out, including a possible redefinition of the spaces.This description has been automatically translated from French.

15 minutes from Beaune, in the seven springs of the Ouche, in a preserved village, a renovated 18th-century post house, its outbuildings, its landscaped garden, and its swimming pool. The former 18th-century post house is set in a garden of 2,683 m², entirely enclosed by walls. Perched above the village, out of sight, the property perpetuates the memory of the time when the royal postal service required horse changes every 15 km. The stables and the large barn door are remnants of its function. A double wrought iron gate marks the entrance for vehicles, while a similarly styled pedestrian gate allows access on foot. The gravel driveway connects the gate and the parking area to the outbuildings, winding around the central lawn courtyard. To the east, the main house has an area of 350 m², and to the north, the outbuildings form a right-angle return that closes the space. The enclosed garden extends to the south and west. The swimming pool occupies the southwest corner of the garden, with a second pedestrian access to the south leading to the center of the village.This description has been automatically translated from French.

130 km from Paris, in a characterful village with a rich past, a residential building, its outbuildings including an old forge, on a plot of 1 hectare. The property occupies a corner at the bend of a village road. The main building is located at the center of the land, parallel to the outbuildings spread out at the front and back of the structure. Those at the back, orangery and open kitchen, are backed against a hill. A garden reveals itself between the outbuilding and the greenhouse. The old forge and its significant basement are built to the left of the main entrance. The façades, partly made of brick, are topped with slate roofs.This description has been automatically translated from French.

A winegrowing estate with a village house, 46 hectares of grounds with a vineyard and moors, wine storehouses and annexes in the scrubland, in southern France’s Hérault department. The estate covers around 46 hectares, 20 hectares of which are vineyards. It is nestled in the heart of the village. The property includes a series of buildings that form a U shape around a courtyard. There is a house with a 183m² floor area, an annexe, a wine storehouse, an agricultural storage building, a garage and several buildings that stand among the vines and need to be restored. You reach the property via a little bridge across a stream and then through a wrought-iron gate that leads into a rectangular court. The plain main building in the heart of the village has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. Redesigned over successive periods, the house has been recognised as part of a winegrowing estate since 2015 when its current owner bought the place. Behind the house, a double garden covers 290m² and extends alongside the stream. The estate’s vineyard and moors are spread over two villages in the immediate surroundings. Many outbuildings, some in ruins, dot the vineyard. Some serve as storehouses or shelters. The vineyard is surrounded by lush scrubland with chestnuts, hazelnuts, strawberry trees and holm oaks. You can see the Caroux mountains to the north in the distance. Small fauna can be found here to, even in the estate’s name – an Occitan word meaning a certain little bird with a superb crest and a beautiful song. The current owner has redesigned and modernised the estate. He oversaw some work, such as the creation of the wine storehouse and the partial renovation of the main dwelling, which dates back to the late 19th century. He also overhauled the way the vineyard was run to produce its wines. Biodiversity is a subject that the current owner takes seriously. The winegrowers on the estate work with respect for natural cycles and follow the principles of organic farming.

A restored former hunting lodge from the 17th century and its immense outbuildings, surrounded by woods and a garden, over more than 3 hectares in the Loiret department. Along the edge of the small town, within a landscape scattered with woods, meadows, farmland and forests, the property overlooks the valley and is accessible via a private lane. The site, with approximately 3.5 hectares, is entirely enclosed by walls, while, sheltered from the wind, the outbuildings and former hunting lodge are located around an immense rectangular and verdant interior gravel courtyard. In addition, a cobblestone patio, partially enclosed by walls, is hidden behind a row of conifers and surrounds the 5 x 11-metre swimming pool. As for the hunting lodge, it was built in the middle of the 17th century and then later reorganised in the 18th and 19th centuries, at which time the barns were refurbished as well. Featuring woods of approximately 1.9 hectares, as well as a grassy and tree-filled garden, surrounded by hedges, a wide entrance and wrought-iron pedestrian doors provide access to the property’s courtyard and garden.

A grand 18th-century house with an outbuilding and garden, nestled 25 minutes from the town of Vendôme, in France’s Centre Val de Loire region. The house has a courtyard and a garden on an enclosed plot that covers around 5,000m². From a village road on one side of the property, a metal gate leads onto a path that takes you to the main court and the outbuilding, which stands in the grassy, tree-dotted garden. In front of the house, there is a second court with vegetation. It faces one of the village’s squares. The main court faces north and south and the pavilion, at a right angle to the house’s main section, looks westwards. The stone elevations are coated with rendering. All the home’s windows are set in surrounds of red brickwork. The hipped roofs are covered with slate tiles, except for one of the outbuilding’s roof slopes, which is covered with flat tiles. The imposing dwelling has kept the attributes that make it typical of classic upper-middle-class houses of its time. Its reception rooms are adorned with mouldings, fireplaces and chevron parquet.

A 17th century townhouse opposite Noyon cathedral, 1 hour 30 minutes from Paris . Situated directly opposite the cathedral, this townhouse enjoys a radiant view of its Gothic facade, built with particularly luminous yellow-ivory limestone. Its tri-partite portal and two spires with three tall, pointed arches lend the building its full magnificence. Only the parvis separates the impressive edifice from the property, which is in line with the 17th-century canons' houses. While the canons had lived on the site since the Middle Ages, a fire destroyed the medieval quarter in the 17th century, which was then rebuilt in a classical style. Today, this is a listed historic site. At first glance, it is the rounded shape of the square that catches the eye, with the canons' houses surrounding the cathedral facade. The majestic appearance of the property is enhanced by the two entrance pillars topped by monumental stylised flame-vase finials. Once through the tall gateway, a courtyard of old cobblestones leads to the townhouse, which stands between courtyard and garden following the traditional layout. On the other side of the building, a paved terrace guarded by a wrought-iron balustrade overlooks a walled garden planted with fruit trees. The style of the townhouse is typical of homes of this era, featuring a tall silhouette, large openings arranged in bays, a deep-pitched roof clad with flat tiles, solid gables and a basement with a perron. The residence embodies the spirit of the 17th century, even though it was extended in the 19th century by a second building. This annexe is roofed in the Mansard style, built of jointed stone and brick, and has two wings with roof terraces, one of which is protected by a balustrade. The main courtyard, surrounded by flowerbeds and paved with old mossy cobblestones, leads straight to the stone approach stairs.

A house from the 1920's awaiting renovation, 20 km from the town of Estremoz, in the Alentejo region. Owned by the same family for a century, this elegant house and its 2.45 ha (7.5 acre) parklands border a quiet street in the village of Cano, close to the market place. With its colourful neoclassical facade, topped by a small tower, the main edifice resembles a country palace. The entrance opens into a pleasant romantic patio with a fountain in the centre. The interior of the house offers ample living space, in a period bourgeois decor, painstakingly restored by its current owner. A striking marble staircase leads to the first floor, where the numerous bedrooms still feature hand-painted ceilings. With its outbuildings, the property would lend itself very well to a hotel project in a region valued for its historic remains and its gastronomy.

A large restored residence of about 500 m², near to Pézenas, in the Hérault area, in the heart of a picturesque village. Located in the heart of the village and adjoined by a venerable fig tree on the terrace enclosed by period railings, the dwelling has been completely restored since its construction in the 19th century. The residence spans three levels, all featuring numerous windows and glass doors with wooden frames. Adorned with Greek friezes, the sober ironwork guard-rails and balconies strictly follow the main lines of the classical-style facade. The natural stone cornices add a distinctive finish to the house and are a fine substitute for a classical Provençal frieze. The roofs are clad with terracotta monk-and-nun tiles. The entrance from the cobbled alleyway is through an old doorway, partly glazed and framed by stone pilasters crowned by Ionic capitals. The capitals are topped by a dentilled cornice which supports a corbelled balcony on the first floor. The edifice is flanked by an adjacent building in need of renovation, which can be accessed via an alleyway. Behind a large wooden gate, this space with a mezzanine can be used for storage and vehicle parking.

In the north of Lot, within the walls of a medieval city, there is a family and pleasure house from the 13th, 17th, and 19th centuries and its hanging gardens. On the heights of the causse overlooking the Dordogne valley, near the gates of the Regional Natural Park of the Causses du Quercy, recognized as a UNESCO Global Geopark, Martel is organized around a center with remarkably preserved architectural heritage. Pedestrian alleys, blonde stone houses, and small squares compose a harmonious ensemble where shops remain plentiful. The town, lively all year round, reveals itself at the rhythm of its markets highlighting local products and regular cultural events. It offers all necessary amenities for daily life, as well as health services and educational structures, in one of the most preserved environments of Quercy. Near the Halle square and the Palais de la Raymondie, the house occupies the corner of two streets, one of which allows for a tour around the old center, still marked in places by the layout of what was once its protective enclosure. Here stands the residence, which has origins dating back to the 13th century, when the city established its commercial role and fortified its boundaries. Made into a more comfortable civil dwelling in the 17th century, and restructured in the 19th century, it today retains a stratified architecture, a discreet witness to the long history of the town. Situated in a dominant position, it benefits from beautiful brightness and open views of the surrounding countryside, perceptible from the windows as well as from the two gardens.This description has been automatically translated from French.

In the Occitanie region, between Toulouse and Montauban, along the Tarn River, a 19th-century farm and its outbuildings sit on a park spanning over 4 hectares. Accessible via a path leading to its entrance gate, the property is introduced by a landscaped and wooded park, consisting of meadows, adorned with alcoves of bushes and flower beds, as well as a spring that flows downstream towards the banks of the Tarn. At the end of a wide, winding gravel driveway, behind wooded areas, the facade of the main body of the farm reveals itself. This includes three single-story buildings: a barn serving as a spacious garage, a pigeon house, and the main dwelling. On a wall of the attic, the date of construction of the farm is inscribed: 1854. The buildings, traditional in style, are made of local bricks, wood, and canal tiles, with roofs that are either gabled or hipped; the modeling is understated, and the openings are straight or arched. The complete renovation of the buildings has been carried out according to professional standards: special attention has been paid to the conservation and enhancement of ancient elements, the use of noble and eco-friendly materials, as well as modern equipment and technologies, such as salt treatment for the swimming pool and double glazing for the joinery. The various buildings are connected by the gravel path, which also leads to the swimming pool. Opposite them, an oak forest leads to the spring and pond included in the park.This description has been automatically translated from French.

1 hour and 15 minutes west of Paris, between Chartres and Rambouillet, a restored 17th-century village house and its enclosed garden. The street-facing facade, made of wrought stone, limestone rubble, and flint, rises two levels under a gabled roof with flat tiles, pierced by a pendant dormer. Invisible from the street, another zinc roof extends over the rest of the house. Two openings protected by green wooden shutters punctuate the facade on the raised ground floor, sheltered from view due to the slope of the street. A small arched wooden door leads directly to a vaulted double cellar, while another, larger door with studded oak leaves, conceals a small garden enclosed by stone walls where the entrance to the house is located.This description has been automatically translated from French.

In the green Beaujolais, in a village near the Lake of Pines, a 190 m² master house from the early 20th century on a plot of 3,440 m². Not far from the church but oriented towards the outskirts of the village, the sloping land faces the forest-covered Beaujolais mountains. Crossing the entrance gate, on the flat part of the estate, the main facade of the house emerges, built in the early 20th century, with a detached porch dedicated to vehicle parking, around a gravel courtyard. Built according to a classic square plan, the main living area follows the codes of the bourgeois country house of its era: topped with a four-pitched roof, part of which is visible in slate, pierced by large openings, it is characterized by an architectural feature of its designer, borrowed from Anglo-Norman houses: a 'bow-window' or 'glazed oriel' projection with a polygonal shape on the ground floor, surmounted by a balcony on the first level. To the south, from the side of the elevated terrace, the land extends towards the river, with a view that stretches far over the surrounding countryside and the geometrically shaped swimming pool.This description has been automatically translated from French.

A 15th-century house listed as a historical monument with a timber-framed facade of masterfully carved beams, nestled in the historical heart of Blois, opposite the city’s cathedral. The centuries-old house – “La Maison des Acrobates” – is listed as a historical monument. It is doubtless the oldest civil dwelling that still stands in the heart of Blois. It combines timber-framed architecture with expressive sculptures and subtle symbolism. Its remarkable facade of wooden beams with cob filler and brick is typical of the 15th century. There is a ground floor, two upstairs floors with corbelling and a third floor in the roof space. A spiral staircase links the levels together. Apart from the top floor, each level is taken up by a single room. On the ground floor, there is, on one side, a large front window – the token of a former shop here. And on the other side, there are two studded wooden entrance doors: one leads straight to the house and the other one leads to a corridor that takes you to the neighbouring house at the back. Small-paned casement windows, probably enlarged in the 18th or 19th century, bring natural light into the upstairs floors. On the third floor, two gabled dormers frame a hipped dormer, which is bigger, upon a slate roof. The back windows look out at the court of a neighbouring townhouse.

An immense, 19th-century family dwelling with a small garden, facing the Chateau of Compiègne. Located between the chateau’s square and grounds, this stately dwelling meshes perfectly with the surrounding architectural landscape, while rows of lime trees create a verdant environment that one can admire from all of its windows. Built out of regularly dressed ashlar stone and topped with a slate and zinc Mansard roof, completely redone in 2005, it features a classical French style with understated exterior décor – lateral pilasters, moulded window/door surrounds, keystones above the front door and stringcourses on each of its floors – echoing the chateau’s imperial architecture, whereas its only whimsical elements are the windows’ ornate wrought-iron guardrails with their stylised scroll and floral motifs. As for the commissioner of this immense dwelling, he was apparently trying to establish a geographical parallel with Emperor Napoleon III, who often came to stay at the Chateau of Compiègne during the autumn months. At that time, the imperial couple received their court and family here over a one to two-month period, which became known as “the Compiègne series” since, each week, new guests arrived to replace their predecessors.