A magical renovation of a historic house in the Loire Valley

Nicky de Bouille’s home is a rare beauty – nestled between a river and a chateau in the Loire Valley, it’s as original as it is stylish. Photographs Brent Darby

By Katie Pike

Published: Thursday, 08 February 2024 at 12:26 PM

The views from Nicky de Bouille’s home in Saumur haven’t changed in around 200 years. The front of the house looks out across the Loire river, which runs through this historic town – famed for its eponymous red and sparkling wines – while the back overlooks its magnificent medieval fort. So far, so fairy tale and, happily, the interior of Nicky’s home is just as magical.

Built in 1732 as a merchant’s house (Saumur was an important trading port, connecting Paris to the Atlantic) the property remains largely untouched. ‘It’s almost like a museum,’ says Nicky. ‘Not much has been altered since it was built – apart from the addition of a few modern comforts.’

Nicky was born in New Zealand and has always had an obsession with ‘the patina of age’ and European architecture, and it was features such as the oak ceiling beams and delicate detailing on the bedroom cupboards that drew her to the house five years ago.

‘The whole place felt quite theatrical,’ she says. ‘It’s spread over five floors but each floor is only 50 sq m so it’s really intimate. Humans love to live in cosy spaces and this place is definitely cosy. The oak staircase that winds through the house gives it the feel of a treehouse, too.’

On moving in with her children, Augustin (now 16) and Olympia (now 14) and family dog, Vespa, it was a given that Nicky wouldn’t interfere with the bones of the house. However, painting the ground floor walls in a deep shade of blue was a must.

‘I’d loved Farrow & Ball’s Hague Blue for about 15 years before moving here,’ she says. ‘I had noticed that art galleries were gradually moving away from whitewashed walls and using rich colours and I decided that Hague Blue would do me well here. As soon as I painted the living room, I felt at home.’

Nicky decided to keep the property’s few modern additions: the charming 1950s tiles in the bathroom and the Formica units in the kitchen serve as pleasing reminders of the passing of time and trends. Apart from these 20th-century details, the house is furnished with antiques. Gilded picture frames and sconces fill the walls, and handsome wooden furniture complements the oak beams and staircase.

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Cabbage ware plates line the open shelves in the kitchen (inspired by her grandmother’s collection of the same designs) while equestrian drawings, which speak of the town’s historic and prestigious cavalry school, are dotted through the house. ‘I’m a real auction hound,’ says Nicky. ‘Ninety per cent of what’s in my home came from the local saleroom.’

And, while Nicky is a proud aesthete, she’s also working to a budget: ‘I love beauty, but it has to be on a shoestring. Luckily, there’s no need to spend a fortune – France is filled with affordable antique furniture.’

The inlaid bookcase in the living room cost just €60 from auction, while the early 18th-century Imari plate displayed on the secretaire cost just €20 (bought in three separate broken pieces and later glued back together).

Nicky works for the travel company Sawday’s, heading up its French operation, but she also works as an artist and garden designer. Beauty is her currency. When she first moved to France 25 years ago it was to live in a historic chateau – an experience that she believes helped her to develop an eye for interiors and decorating with antiques. ‘I love the Directoire style – the transitional period between Louis XVI and Empire style. It’s actually quite English and masculine; I’m not into the fussy Louis XV look.’

Her biggest splurge was on a secretaire from this period that now sits in the living room. ‘It was so naughty of me but I’ll never regret it,’ she says. ‘It has all these little drawers that are inside a curved frame – it’s like a miniature theatre. I like to display funny collections of things in it. At the moment there’s a Louis XV salt cellar, a shell from New Zealand and a coin that was under the floor in the basement that dates from 1619 and predates the house. That’s the great thing about living somewhere so historic – there’s always something new to discover. It’s endless.’

Saumur castle dominates the skyline and provides a dramatic backdrop to the pretty wine-producing town. – Brent Darby –
French home owner Nicky de Bouille
Nicky and her dog, Vespa. – Brent Darby –
French home staircase
The beautifully worn stairs are just as they were when the house was built in 1732. – Brent Darby –
French home living room
French home fireplace
The wonderful 19th-century frame above the fireplace originally adorned a work by an artist from the Barbizon school. The owner gave it to Nicky when he had the work reframed. – Brent Darby –
French home sculpture and painting
A small painting by Nicky’s uncle, New Zealand artist Austen Deans, sits alongside one of Nicky’s sculptures on the secretaire in the living room. – Brent Darby –
French home velvet armchair
The velvet armchair was a junk shop find and the bookcase was an auction bargain costing just €60. The elegant Directoire secretaire came from a local antiques dealer. – Brent Darby –
French home other half of living room
The other half of the living room is used as an informal dining room. – Brent Darby –
French home local produce
The other half of the living room is used as Nicky serves guests local produce, including Château du Petit Thouars made by her friend, winemaker Sébastien du Petit Thouars. – Brent Darby –
French home kitchen shelves
Nicky’s collection of cabbage ware plates is displayed on open shelves. – Brent Darby –
French home kitchen
Blue and white tiles cover the walls of the kitchen, which remains just as it was when Nicky moved in. It was most likely installed in the1950s. – Brent Darby –
French home view from kitchen
The view from the kitchen to the living room is framed by a wall painted with blackboard paint, useful for lists and doodling. – Brent Darby –
French home upstairs landing
The upstairs landing is lined with framed maps of the Breton coastline and equestrian prints that allude to Saumur’s historic cavalry connections. – Brent Darby –
French home main bedroom
An antique map of the Breton coastline hangs above Nicky’s bed, between a pair of sconces and two Japanese woodblock prints. A large embroidered panel featuring cranes hangs on the wall to the left. Nicky bought the unfinished embroidery from a favourite textile dealer at a local fair. – Brent Darby –
French home paintings in bedroom
A small table and chairs sit between windows overlooking the Loire in Nicky’s bedroom. A pair of decorative parrot sconces flank a collection of paintings and prints that were gifts from friends and fellow artists. – Brent Darby –
French home panelled chimney breast
Built-in cupboards and a panelled chimney breast fill the wall at one end of the bedroom. The fireplace, which has long been boarded up, serves as a shelf behind a small sofa. Two Indian urns sit either side of a painting of the Sacré-Coeur. The military jacket belonged to a relative on the French side of the family. – Brent Darby –
French home attic bedroom
The open attic reveals the footprint of the five-storey house. The tiles on the floor are typical of local houses in the region and Nicky had them cleaned up when she moved in. The rugs are 18th-century kilims previously used as curtains by her in-laws. – Brent Darby –
French home Nicky's attic studio
Nicky uses the room as her studio – natural light pours in from both north and south. A neoclassical portrait of Napoleon dressed as Caesar sits on the trestle table that serves as her work bench. – Brent Darby –
French home attic space
The centre of the space is dominated by a velvet sofa, a drop-leaf table and chest of drawers for storage. – Brent Darby –
French home Nicky's daughter's bedroom
Nicky’s monochromatic reworking of Hokusai’s The Great Wave off Kanagawa hangs above her daughter’s bed in the simply furnished room, where fairylights adorn the pale walls. – Brent Darby –
French home bathroom
Nicky decided to work with the tiles in the bathroom rather than strip them out. A decision she doesn’t regret. ‘If I’d started from scratch,’ she says, ‘I don’t think I’d have created such an interesting room.’ The 19th-century silk kimono is another piece she inherited from her French family. – Brent Darby –

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