This French Renaissance-style castle would probably have remained largely unknown if it hadn’t become home to the secret wife of Louis XIV, Madame de Maintenon. Françoise d’Aubigné – her real name – was a woman of humble origins who is often compared to Cinderella.
After Louis secretly married her, the Château de Maintenon underwent numerous transformations as she put her own stamp on it. Meanwhile, the French-style garden was designed by renowned landscape architect André Le Nôtre but was only laid out in 2013.
We take you to discover a magnificent stately home located in #France’s #LoireValley. The #Château of #Cheverny is listed as a historical monument and it also inspired #Tintin creator Hergé for the family home of Captain Haddock. One in three visitors to Cheverny comes for the world of Tintin, an important source of income. The same family has carefully maintained the castle and grounds for more than six centuries, with each generation laying a new stone to the edifice.
The Château de Cheverny is a grand estate which has been in the same family for over six centuries. Cheverny has always been lived in and every generation has made a great effort to take care and embellish it with a true passion.
The Château de Sceaux is a grand country house in Sceaux, Hauts-de-Seine, approximately 10 km from the center of Paris, France. Located in a park laid out by André Le Nôtre, visitors can tour the house, outbuildings and gardens. The Petit Château operates as the Musée de l’Île-de-France, a museum of local history.
Château de MontastrucThis splendid residence, the Château de Montastruc, is registered in its entirety as a Historical Monument. It is ideally positioned on a rocky promontory, and combines grandeur and simplicity, character and serenity, history and modernity. An ancient troglodyte site and fortress built during its 1500 years of history, the Château de Montastruc in Périgord is today a large and luminous family home and a warm haven of peace, close to major tourist sites of the Dordogne.
Château de Montastruc is offered in its entirety for seasonal rental and can comfortably accommodate up to twenty people for a romantic and perfect holiday in a large residence. It’s an ideal location for beautiful family occasions, holidays with friends, notable events, or a French wedding, the château can be yours for a whole week with daily service. Ten rooms and many common rooms on more than 1,000 square meters, a pool of 15 x 6 meters, a large park and forests are at your disposal.
The Périgord is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne département, now forming the northern part of the Aquitaine région. It is divided into four areas called the Périgord Noir, the Périgord Blanc, the Périgord Vert and the Périgord Pourpre.
The 14th-century Château de Pechrigal – where composer, poet and author Léo Ferré lived from1963 until 1968 – stands three kilometres outside the village of Gourdon.
Pech-Rigal means royal hill in old local French dialect, befitting its hilltop position.
The 67-hectare plot includes meadows, tennis courts, a pool and half a hectare of Merlot vineyards, giving 4,000 bottles of wine a year.
The chateau, a grand affair of 17 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, guard house, pigeonnier, wine cellar, restored farmhouse and two outhouses, was bought and renovated by a Frenchman in 1998.
He transformed the crumbling property into a luxurious second home, occasionally used for private events and weddings.
It had fallen into disrepair after rebel composer Ferré left it unlived-in for 25 years.
Dating to the 1630’s this magnificent, historic property, ennobled by King Louis XIII in 1634, was discovered in 2006, entirely hidden beneath brambles and woodlands, by an intrepid local couple wanting to restore an important building of historical significance to the Béarn region.
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