Monday, February 2, 2009

Designs on Normandy

The gate to the estate which was once a relais de poste (resting place for coach travellers).

The courtyard garden & tree-shaded lawn have been replanted & provide a restful area to relax in.


Comfortable chairs with linen slip-covers mix perfectly with more contemporary black metal lamps to give the sitting room an elegant, yet relaxed ambience.


The gorgeous white table in the hall was made to the Owners design.


One of the attached barns, open on one side to the courtyard has been converted into a summer dining room. The walls were white-washed & the beams painted in a shade of blue often used in Normandy houses in the seventeenth century.


A delicate metal bench covered in soft pillows & a painted dresser found in a local antiques shop, decorate a corner of the sitting room.


Stairs leading to the upstairs bedrooms have been painted a chalky green-blue colour.


The guest bedroom has hand-hewn beams softened with linen curtains pooling on the floor. The stunning eighteenth-century oval portrait at the peak of the drapes is part of a collection given to the Owner by her grandfather.

All images Hearst

A rambling old house in the French countryside with a courtyard of attached barns & the chance to create a wonderful rural retreat - stuff dreams are truly made of! One energetic & creative Parisian couple have done just that & breathed new life into this stunning home. They found the surroundings so inspirational they have now moved here permanently from
their Paris apartment & run their design business from one of the renovated barns.

16 comments:

  1. Oh how this makes my heart swoon. What a lucky couple to live in this beautiful house full-time and to run their business from it. Thank you for the burst of inspiration.

    Thank you also for the kind comments you have left on my blog - as a novice blogger your support and kind words has meant a lot to me.

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  2. What a fabulous place to live and work! Inspiration around every corner. Thank you Millie.
    ♥Rosemary

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  3. Millie - please stop!!! lol :) I cannot take these gorgeous images while hiding from the heat in a home trashed by two cooped-up children!

    Beautiful pics, thank you Milie for posting them :)
    Romana

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  4. Those old buildings just ooze that homely feel - something you can never get from a new modern home!

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  5. Why would you ever leave home? I would order online groceries, everything just to stay there always. Great photos as always Millie.
    Ness xx

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  6. Just beautiful! I really love that metal bench.

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  7. Dreamy, the rooms are so beautiful, love the slip covers in fact I love the whole house!

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  8. Oh my goodness Millie its absolutely divine, it looks so calm and restful - what a wonderful holiday one could have here - I might have to check it out ;)

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  9. Thank you very much for the comment you have left on my blog!
    P.S. I hope that you had a nice weekend!

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  10. This house is stunning...how lovely to have a retreat like this to work from. Amanda x

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  11. Ooh I'd love to curl up on one of those slip-covered chairs with a good book and a glass of wine. Lovely Millie!

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  12. It's so airy and has so much beautiful natural light. I can just feel the breeze going over me as I sit and read a book...so lovely!

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  13. Just beautiful Millie. So peaceful~ I would never leave.
    Thank you for your sweet comments.
    D~

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  14. My dream of house when it time for me to retire.

    HOpe everything's fine downunder. Come & visit to my place for a short Chill OUT for the day.

    hugs!

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  15. what a lovely cottage, thanks for the beautiful posting !!
    kate

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  16. The gate and the kitchen door could melt my heart.
    Thank you for the lovely comments on my blog about the party dress paintings

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And none will hear the postman's knock
Without a quickening of the heart.
For who can bear to feel himself forgotten?
~W.H. Auden

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