{"id":30263,"date":"2024-02-08T13:26:18","date_gmt":"2024-02-08T12:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4f5e6ce8-7f4b-425b-bd93-96b1ed0b98dd"},"modified":"2024-02-08T13:36:41","modified_gmt":"2024-02-08T12:36:41","slug":"a-magical-renovation-of-a-historic-house-in-the-loire-valley","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/homesantiques\/rss_feed\/a-magical-renovation-of-a-historic-house-in-the-loire-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"A magical renovation of a historic house in the Loire Valley"},"content":{"rendered":"

Nicky de Bouille\u2019s home is a rare beauty \u2013 nestled between a river and a chateau in the Loire Valley, it\u2019s as original as it is stylish. Photographs Brent Darby <\/p>

By Katie Pike\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 08 February 2024 at 12:26 PM<\/p>

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The views from Nicky de Bouille\u2019s home in Saumur haven\u2019t changed in around 200 years. The front of the house looks out across the Loire river, which runs through this historic town \u2013 famed for its eponymous red and sparkling wines \u2013 while the back overlooks its magnificent medieval fort. So far, so fairy tale and, happily, the interior of Nicky\u2019s home is just as magical.<\/p>

Built in 1732 as a merchant\u2019s house (Saumur was an important trading port, connecting Paris to the Atlantic) the property remains largely untouched. \u2018It\u2019s almost like a museum,\u2019 says Nicky. \u2018Not much has been altered since it was built \u2013 apart from the addition of a few modern comforts.\u2019<\/p>

Nicky was born in New Zealand and has always had an obsession with \u2018the patina<\/a> of age\u2019 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.<\/p>

\u2018The whole place felt quite theatrical,\u2019 she says. \u2018It\u2019s spread over five floors but each floor is only 50 sq m so it\u2019s 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.\u2019<\/p>

On moving in with her children, Augustin (now 16) and Olympia (now 14) and family dog, Vespa, it was a given that Nicky wouldn\u2019t interfere with the bones of the house. However, painting the ground floor walls in a deep shade of blue was a must.<\/p>

\u2018I\u2019d loved Farrow & Ball\u2019s<\/a> Hague Blue for about 15 years before moving here,\u2019 she says. \u2018I 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.\u2019<\/p>

Nicky decided to keep the property\u2019s few modern additions: the charming 1950s tiles<\/a> 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.<\/p>

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Cabbage ware<\/a> plates line the open shelves in the kitchen (inspired by her grandmother\u2019s collection of the same designs) while equestrian drawings, which speak of the town\u2019s historic and prestigious cavalry school, are dotted through the house. \u2018I\u2019m a real auction hound,\u2019 says Nicky. \u2018Ninety per cent of what\u2019s in my home came from the local saleroom.\u2019<\/p>

And, while Nicky is a proud aesthete, she\u2019s also working to a budget: \u2018I love beauty, but it has to be on a shoestring. Luckily, there\u2019s no need to spend a fortune \u2013 France is filled with affordable antique furniture.\u2019<\/p>

The inlaid bookcase in the living room cost just \u20ac60 from auction, while the early 18th-century Imari plate displayed on the secretaire cost just \u20ac20 (bought in three separate broken pieces and later glued back together).<\/p>

Nicky works for the travel company Sawday\u2019s, 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 \u2013 an experience that she believes helped her to develop an eye for interiors and decorating with antiques. \u2018I love the Directoire style \u2013 the transitional period between Louis XVI and Empire style. It\u2019s actually quite English and masculine; I\u2019m not into the fussy Louis XV look.\u2019<\/p>

Her biggest splurge was on a secretaire from this period that now sits in the living room. \u2018It was so naughty of me but I\u2019ll never regret it,\u2019 she says. \u2018It has all these little drawers that are inside a curved frame \u2013 it\u2019s like a miniature theatre. I like to display funny collections of things in it. At the moment there\u2019s 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\u2019s the great thing about living somewhere so historic \u2013 there\u2019s always something new to discover. It\u2019s endless.\u2019<\/p>

Saumur castle dominates the skyline and provides a dramatic backdrop to the pretty wine-producing town. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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Nicky and her dog, Vespa. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The beautifully worn stairs are just as they were when the house was built in 1732. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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A small painting by Nicky\u2019s uncle, New Zealand artist Austen Deans, sits alongside one of Nicky\u2019s sculptures on the secretaire in the living room. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The velvet armchair was a junk shop find and the bookcase was an auction bargain costing just \u20ac60. The elegant Directoire secretaire came from a local antiques dealer. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The other half of the living room is used as an informal dining room. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The other half of the living room is used as Nicky serves guests local produce, including Ch\u00e2teau du Petit Thouars made by her friend, winemaker S\u00e9bastien du Petit Thouars. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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Nicky\u2019s collection of cabbage ware plates is displayed on open shelves. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The upstairs landing is lined with framed maps of the Breton coastline and equestrian prints that allude to Saumur\u2019s historic cavalry connections. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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An antique map of the Breton coastline hangs above Nicky\u2019s 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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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A small table and chairs sit between windows overlooking the Loire in Nicky\u2019s bedroom. A pair of decorative parrot sconces flank a collection of paintings and prints that were gifts from friends and fellow artists. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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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 Sacr\u00e9-Coeur. The military jacket belonged to a relative on the French side of the family. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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Nicky uses the room as her studio \u2013 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 –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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The centre of the space is dominated by a velvet sofa, a drop-leaf table and chest of drawers for storage. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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Nicky\u2019s monochromatic reworking of Hokusai\u2019s The Great Wave off Kanagawa hangs above her daughter\u2019s bed in the simply furnished room, where fairylights adorn the pale walls. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>
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Nicky decided to work with the tiles in the bathroom rather than strip them out. A decision she doesn\u2019t regret. \u2018If I\u2019d started from scratch,\u2019 she says, \u2018I don\u2019t think I\u2019d have created such an interesting room.\u2019 The 19th-century silk kimono is another piece she inherited from her French family. – Brent Darby –<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div><\/div>