If you follow me on Instagram, then you may remember this shot a few weeks ago, when one morning, at dawn on a brocante fair, I stumbled across the most beautiful home, where the owners were having a sort out and selling some furniture and bits.
I was very taken with the beauty of this old elegant french house, inside its tall walls, just a stone’s throw from the village church.
It was even more poignant as it revealed itself in the half light early that morning. And because I bought quite a bit , and the owners sensed they could trust me, I was invited back to buy more the next week, and also allowed to take these pictures to share with you.
The house has been a family home for many years, but now the children are scattered far and wide, and just the gentleman remains, it really is too big for one. They are gently gearing up with a view to selling the house, maybe some time next year, and I am happy to tell you that I’ll be able to show you the interior when that moment comes. I have been inside, and it is lovely. Very high ceilings, an elegant staircase, old stone floors … it ticks all the boxes.
In the meantime, just for the pleasure of dreaming about the possibilities, here are some pictures of the outside of the house and some of the outbuildings. Oh yes, and I also thought you’d like to meet Chupa who didn’t have time to brush her hair but was so happy to pose for me that it’s hard to believe she has no previous experience!
The first record of a house here dates back to the 9th century (yes, you read that right), but the buildings as they stand today are 17th and 18th century, with a few 19th century improvements.
There is a charmingly romantic and slightly dishevelled air to the property, which seems to say “yes, I know I need a little work, but I still have great bones, just you wait and see”.
I adore the outbuildings , so typical of old french homes. They could have been used for staff, as food cellars, stables, barns, pigeonniers or workshops. On this house, they are particularly charming with their mismatched doors and windows, lined up beneath an old zinc gutter.
So maybe I’ll come back here in the spring or the summer, and together we’ll visit the huge old kitchen, the salons and the bedrooms. And maybe, among my readers there will be someone whose destiny it is to coach this old beauty back to her former splendour.
Whatever the outcome, you have to admit, it is lovely to dream a while …..
81 comments
Oh, to be 20 years younger….I would do it in a heart beat. The visions of the inside are well fixed in my mind so it will be interesting to see what you show when it goes on the market. So sad that the family is having to give it up.
Oh….drool…. Absolutely stunning! I can only dream, but dream I will! Thank you for sharing.
so beautiful..if only….look forward to seeing the inside pictures but I am sold on the outside already.
oh my this fills the soul doesn’t it , soooo charming and inviting….sue
Ah – gorgeous! I love the romantic disheveled air – and the shutters with the peeling blue paint. Would make a wonderful set for a photo-op as you have shown. Love that first picture! Beautiful dog, too.
What a gorgeous home with such beauty and character. How wonderful to be able to see in person. It would be a dream to bring it back to its glory but something about the beautifully worn look and patina is so appealing. Look forward to seeing more in the future. Thank you for showing us this beauty.
Oh my what a dream come true. I feel so sad for the gentleman who now feels it necessary to see his long time home. Perhaps because my father is now the only left at my family home. He will not sell. We will carry him out of there. My favorite part is the lovely doggie. I wish I could move there with my dear mother, now struggling with the advanced stages of Alzheimers disease. I’d hire caregivers and we’d all live there happily as we possibly could. If only dreams could come true.
My heart goes out to you for this time of saying goodbye to your parents but let me offer some small solace. My Husband (of 56 years) and I are experiencing the last of Life-He with Alzheimer’s and me feeling slightly-and sometimes hugely overwhelmed by everything but my Husband is usually happy and while old age and Death seem grim when one is young they become more of the natural order of things as one ages-no more unusual than Birth and Living. I anticipate the end as peace and rest and if there is more how interesting that will be. Hope this doesn’t offend-meant to be helpful.
Dear Judy, What a sensitive and kind reply to Valorie. I also took strength from it as I am at that stage where youth is slipping out of my grasp and I haven’t yet taken hold of my next age. I am floundering a tad, so reading your kind note gives me strength for what lies ahead. Thank you sincerely.
How yummy. This is a perfect Chateau for a B & B. Could be the beginning of a great partnership and beautiful new life and future. I see spiritual retreats here and lovley gardens galore.
This home is beautiful! Thank you for sharing this treasure with all of us!
Oh to be more than a few years younger and have a bottomless checkbook! This is the stuff dreams are made of.
Great as a fantasy. I wonder how much it would take to fix it up – I see those electric wires on the outside of the building not inside. Hard to say when it got electric power. I’m sure the Seller will have many offers. Maybe Charles Spada would buy it and fix it up like he did his other French property and then he sold it. If they need a buyer, someone should email him. The house proposes so much romance expectant on the interiors.
It’s gorgeous, it’s beautiful and it is elegant! How lucky that you were able to buy some of the family’s pieces. I love the buildings and the French blue doors and trim. These are the things I enjoy about your blog and book….real people amd real homes! I think any of your readers would love to have a look inside! I would!
Thank you so much for sharing. Lovely!
sigh…i wish….and the dog too.
Please, continue to share…these home photos are so good for the soul.
What a wonderful old lady! I know she must’ve been grand in her day. Hopefully the new owners will give her a lift and take her back to her former glory. I can’t wait to go back with you to visit at a later date. Love, love, love the dog!!
Thanks for sharing.
Such a beautiful & charming home. I had to chuckle at Chupa not having had time to brush his hair, poor guy. I’m certain there will be many who want to snag this elegant old treasure.
Lovely! Sweet dog too!
Does the gentleman need a wife? Just kidding, but maybe not really 😉
Where is his photo?
unfortunately I’ve already moved in, am sorting the furniture and hanging paintings. If only!
What a lovely find! Something very romantic about it….
Beautiful and charming house! I was so taken with the faded blue color of the shutters.
What a fun project it would be to bring her back to life! Thank you for introducing us.
A STUNNER……………………good grief I am LIVING In the wrong PLACE!
SENCILLAMENTE HERMOSO,GRACIAS.
I want it!!
Oh Sharon it reminds me of the beautiful story you told about the American woman who inherited a house in France. I loved that story. I was right there with her as she explored the house and town. I’m imagining that house when I see this one. Beautiful!
I immediately thought the exact same thing, Sherry!
What a magnificent home! Can’t you just visualize the garden parties throughout the years, and a stunning bride floating down the grand staircase (as I’m sure there must be one!) going out to meet her groom…ah the romance! I’m sure the gentleman has a multitude of amazing stories he can share about this beautiful home.
So looking forward to seeing the rest of the photos, and maybe do a little dreaming of revitalizing this truly lovely home…if only money grew on trees, lol!
Ah, a most beautiful dream! Thank you
Chupa has a stature, an air of elegant French personality.
Chupa, the Gordon setter!
Stunningly beautiful,almost a pity to do any tidying.The architecture in your part of France is so much more interesting than where I live near Perpignan ,oh how I wish I could persuade my Catalan partner to move North!!! I can’t wait to see photos of the interior.
Love to see your posts and all the pictures you show us. I live in Texas and just love to see pictures of France. Thank you for making my day brighter.
I wish him well. The tales those walls could tell. franki
Sharon –
I think you may have found this lovely home as it was reminiscent of your ‘storied home’ you wrote about which we thoroughly enjoyed. If the gentleman owner is also a painter as well, the story comes full circle and will have as happy an ending as yours did. Maybe you’ll feel inspired to write another brief story – ‘Beyond the Blue Shutters’?
Yes, please! I do hope you are able to keep in touch during the proceedings and let us know what happens. You’ve got us all dreaming–and scheming, perhaps–about how we could make this beauty our own.
You have made my early evening a sheer delight by introducing me to another
world and I shall dream of the excitement and adventure as I tour through this
charming house.
What a lovely, beautiful discovery…the house, the outbuildings…the colors. So soft and inviting. I hope her future owner loves her well. Thank you for sharing these wonderful photos.
Looks gorgeous! I can’t wait to take a peek inside in the Spring! We are actually toying with the idea of selling our place in Paris in a few years, and may consider reinvesting in something like this. Would you mind emailing me with a few details–such as how many bedrooms, approx. how large the property is, and where it’s located? The last time you wrote about a home for sale, the wheels in our head started spinning!
Thanks for more photos. Beautiful house but I’m a bit sad no one in the family wants to take it on.
I love the colour blue on the doors and the shutters, do you think they were painted that beautiful blue or have they faded to that colour?
I’m looking forward to the next set of photos1 🙂
Pat
My thoughts exactly…. how can there be no one in the family to step in and love that home?
Oh my!! Stunning. It does remind me of your short story in the summer. It is spectacular and would make a wonderful B&B. Love the blue and can’t wait for more pic’s.
Oh what a lovely place… Like several others, I see a beautiful B&B right in the heart of Normandy.
Please consider using this old home as the beginning of another story. Thanks so much for sharing…
I miss France tremendously and threaten to move there once my children are grown…. To dream of owning on old home would be a dream. Money brings me back to the real world…. Ahhhh if I only could win the lottery … I guess I must play first to be able to win
I await more pictures
Thank you so much for sharing such beauty – I think this old home is all the more beautiful for it’s wear, or shall I say patina! Those blue shutters are the perfect shade. I am holding my breath for an inside tour! Just gorgeous with all it’s charm and that includes the way it snuggles right into the beautiful nature that surrounds it!
Beautifully shabby, with great dignity. I’d take it in a heartbeat.
Yes! If I were only younger I will take the challenge with delight. Oh swooning and dreaming anyway. It is a charmer and I am in love. Wishing at least I could walk there with you and see inside to add more images in my mind of dreams. I am in love.
Sharon, This is a beautiful property. The house has wonderful “bones” and some very blessed person(s) will make changes and turn it into an even more beautiful home. Thank you for sharing; I am dreaming about living in such a place, and I look forward to seeing photos of the interior.
Linda
would be my absolute dream life to come back to France and work on restoring the house and gardens…masters is landscape architecture, bachelor’s in French and fine arts…doesn’t get much better than this
The orangerie! Why is no one mentioning it? I love the peeling paint, the moss on the shingles, the lace curtains. Maybe the new owner would rent me the little two-story house! Or is it three-story. There’s a gable window. I wonder what the view is from there?
I play a game where I think about where in France I would buy a property if I ever won the Lotto or came into money. Between looking at the occasional website and watching the English tv programme “Escape to the Continent” I convert euros and english pounds to dollars and dream about the possibilities. From what I have seem the English pound goes a long way in France.
I love the beauty of the weathered ‘imperfections’. Who knew that peeling shutters could be so charming! Just charming…
(swoon)….
Oh, I think I’m in love again! Can hardly wait to hear more details – in the ‘young man’s’ due time!
Sharon you have such a way with your camera & description of this divine house .Thank you for showing us such a delightful maison Best Ros
The home and property is so charming!
I love it! What would the cost of a home like
That be in American $$ ?
Oh be still my beating heart…….. if dreams became reality….i would move in tomorrow
So beautiful! I look forward to seeing the inside of this house. Love Chupa too!
Zina
Sharon this home touched all our hearts and like some of your other readers I immediately thought of your lovely story about an heiress……..Beyond Belief would be a good title for a new story of this ‘faded lady’ and since you will also be able to share with us the beautiful interior … can we hope…a new story in your future for ‘the friends of Sharon’…
It gave me such peace this evening as I am in the evening of my life with my husband quite unwell and the future uncertain this was so peaceful to view and sooth the soul while enjoying your post……A big Merci!
With a grateful heart,
Sylvia Faye
This is so beautiful, your photos are poetic… Thank you for sharing.
Can’t wait to see the inside !
One of my favourite things is to explore old houses and to imagine how I would renovate them, in a day I can be moving to Normandy, Provence, the Alps without even thinking of the practicalities or the children!!!
To repair will cost more then build one just the same , but it never be so magic
Thank you for tonight’s dream Sharon!
I agree with all of the previous comments and please keep us updated with more pictures. What is the size of the property?
Thank you for allowing me to dream and enjoy your amazing photos. Dee
absolutely beautiful, so sad the family is not able to keep it. It must hold so many memories. Love the blue shutters and doors. Look forward to seeing inside!!!
Oh what a lovely home indeed ,it is one to dream on for sure. Chupa is such a beautiful
Gordon Setter I love her. And she goes perfect with the home. She reminds me of my Gordon Setters, everything gets in the fur!! Wishing the gentlemen well.
Thanks
Darlene
….will Chupa come with the house??
Sharon,
9th century… in a wooded glade… faded bleu shutters… All make it so easy to slip from the 21st century to a time when fairy tales were born. A French House To Dream Over is truly a post that only MFCH could write with such compassion for the site and its owners. Your descriptions endear the aging owner, the buildings, and the unkempt Chupa to all of our hearts. With readers all over the world, I, too, await the next installment in the French House’s journey.
Judith
beautiful! “to slip from the 21st century to a time when fairy tales were born.”
Oh, what a lovely piece of land; what a lovely house of dreams; what a lovely story that beauty has to tell! It is simply gorgeous! I am sorry for the old gent that lives there, as it must break his heart to slowly let go of a lifetime of living, love and happiness in his old family home. I know whomever picks up this beauty will restore it, however, the charm will always remain!
I look forward to more information if and when the time comes to sell.
Thank you so much Sharon, for sharing this beautiful and much beloved home with us!
This is such a stunning house, I am dreaming if an house in France with blue shutters….thank you for sharing….I keep on dreaming 🙂
Like many others, I am saddened that this beautiful home will have to pass out of the family and that the current owner will leave it behind…very hard to imagine. That said, this house makes me dream like perhaps no other I have ever seen.
Thank you for sharing it with us, Sharon.
As with many of your other readers, I immediately thought – if only I was 20 years younger! Also thought the same about your story and this house – perfect! Or maybe, another story using this house as the main character???? ….!
I would love to be able to afford to take on this lovely old lady and make her shine again, but the faded blue shutters and lovely old doors look so fitting. It may be that if just the grounds were brought to life around the old house, it would make her smile. I can’t wait to see the inside. I think though, we should all spare a thought for the elderly gentleman whose home it has been- it must be so hard to pack up, get rid of things you’ve had for a lifetime, the memories of a life lived there. He is a brave man and I’m sure we all wish him contentment in his future path.
Would the lovely gentleman consider selling the house and then continue to live there?? A very close of mine and I are learning French and we would love to learn from him. Or perhaps he might just like to visit occasionally?? I am really seriously interested even though our husbands think we are absolut fou.
Michelle
I am in love with this house and with Chupa. My only trip to Europe was Germany on business, but visiting France is on my bucket list. Like many of the readers who posted before, if I won the lottery, this would become my European home.
Thank you for sharing this lovely home with us.
Oh, thank you!! For continuing giving us dreams! What glorious dreams I shall have when looking at this batch of pictures….
Nancy
wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com
I am DREAMING, so much so I am going to add shutters to my home that is old and pealing so I can dream some more.
Xx
Dore
simply perfect….I love it!
Oh… the stuff of fantasies… And if those walls could talk (and talk and talk), the stories they could tell!
I love this house. I live in a city where everything is new. Doesn’t have the same feel.
Are all of the houses so big in this area of France?
What a beautiful property so full of history…..dreams can sometimes come true