For sale Castle Fontenay-le-Comte 85200

Réf. 4815: Stately castle with chapel and outbuildings near Fontenay-le-Comte.

Located in the Vendée, we are offering an 18th-century château, complete with its chapel and beautiful outbuildings, set within 115 hectares of woodland. On the edge of the majestic Mervent Forest, it enjoys a preserved natural setting. It is very close to a village of 1,200 inhabitants. Just a few minutes from Fontenay-le-Comte, a town of art and history, the château’s location strikes a perfect balance between tranquillity and accessibility. Not far from the Marais Poitevin, the famous tourist destination known as the ‘Green Venice’, it is also within reasonable reach of La Rochelle. Nantes is easily accessible via the motorway. This property is the ideal setting for a family home, a venue for receptions or a prestigious development project.

A superb avenue lined with old trees leads to the property. As you walk along this avenue for 500 metres, the château’s main façade gradually comes into view, with the outbuildings to its right and the chapel to its left.
Built in 1741, the château is a magnificent example of classical Louis XV-style architecture, a period rarely seen in the region.
The main façade is balanced and symmetrical. It is organised around an elongated central section, flanked by two large, slightly projecting side wings. This layout reinforces the sense of monumentality and stability. Access to the main door is via an elegant double-flight external staircase. The centre of the façade is highlighted by a slight projection, topped by a discreet triangular pediment. The façade is punctuated by tall, evenly spaced windows with small panes, framed in cut stone.
The building features an open ground floor with half-windows, providing light to the cellars and service areas. The present residence, built on the site of earlier structures, incorporates medieval or even older elements within its cellars and foundations.
The château then rises over two main storeys.
The high slate roof is topped by regular, discreet chimneys that contribute to the overall balance.
The absence of excessive ornamentation reinforces the sober elegance of the whole, based more on the nobility of its proportions than on fanciful decoration.
Once through the main door, you enter the hall. It opens onto the spacious gallery with its white cabochon-patterned flagstone floor, wood panelling, exposed beams and a beautiful staircase landing carved from stone.
This gallery leads to the reception rooms overlooking the park.

On the whole, they have retained their original features: their antique parquet floors, their terracotta tiles, their beautiful wood panelling and their fireplaces.
The central pavilion contains a large hall, a sitting room with a domed ceiling, a library with wood panelling and bookshelves, and a dining room.
In the right-hand wing, there is a large kitchen, cloakrooms, a study, a music room with panelled walls, a toilet, and an entrance via the gable.
In the left-hand wing, there is a large study, a billiard room, a workshop, and an entrance via the gable.
The elegant staircase, with its wrought-iron banister, leads to the first floor and a landing adorned with solid white stone balusters.
It leads to six bedrooms, including two large bedrooms with anterooms, a bathroom and a toilet. There are also two shower rooms on this floor, as well as a games room and a dressing room.
In the left wing there are two large rooms in need of restoration, which could be converted into two additional bedrooms with a shower room.
On the second floor there is a vast attic. The château also features an extensive basement throughout its entire footprint. This area reveals the building’s older origins, notably with magnificent vaulted sections. It contains several rooms, including a beautiful old kitchen with a large fireplace, a pantry, a boiler room and a toilet.

Outbuildings :

· A listed, detached chapel forms part of the estate: a rectangular structure with an apse, a classical façade topped by a bell turret, and rhythmic bands that echo the proportions of the neighbouring château.
· Outbuildings comprising:
· On the left, a residential house renovated in 2003. It features a beautiful entrance hall, a large living room and four bedrooms.
· On the right, the stables.
· A pool house.
· A garden shed.

The park as a whole is a typical example of 18th-century geometric design. The park, laid out with precision during the reconstruction of the château, follows an axial design, opening out from the house towards the forest and extending down to the river. Spanning nearly 115 hectares, the estate features a landscape of great diversity: an elegant approach avenue lined with old trees, a structured park, vast meadows, and a forest of around 100 hectares criss-crossed by paths. A kitchen garden, a swimming pool area sheltered by ancient walls, beautiful mature trees—oaks, chestnut trees, magnolias, a magnificent 300-year-old plane tree—and a fountain complete this exceptional estate.

The following parts are listed on the Inventory of Historic Monuments :
The château, the chapel, the well; the landscaped sections of the park: listed by order of 1993.
The section of the castle approach road situated on plot : listed by order of 2006
This property is a historic monument (allowing fiscal tax cuts if you pay taxes in France).

Cabinet LE NAIL – Loire-Atlantique and Vendée - Mrs Nathalie TOULBOT : +33 (0)2.43.98.20.20
Nathalie TOULBOT, Individual company, registered in the Special Register of Commercial Agents, under the number 418 969 077.
We invite you to visit our website Cabinet Le Nail to browse our latest listings or learn more about this property.

Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available at: www.georisques.gouv.fr