Moulins, Auvergne 03000

A genuine manor house, surrounded by grounds of nearly three hectares, 2.5 hours from Paris, in the Nivernais region. A country road, lined with several traditional farms, traverses immense meadows populated with Charolaise beef cattle, before the property slowly starts to come into view: a British-inspired manor surrounded by grounds planted with ancient trees. A gravel area skirts the building and provides parking for several vehicles, while, not far off, an elongated outbuilding faces a well with its wheel. In addition, to the south, the grounds contain a swimming pool and its machine room, whereas several Medici vases mark the entrance to this impressive dwelling. Constructed entirely over a basement level, the three-storey manor's exteriors feature a polychrome brick and stone composition, cadenced by many large-paned windows topped with stone lintels, while two balconies provide eye-catching architectural elements for its main façade: the first showcases the manor's front door and is extended by a stone staircase, safeguarded by an ornate bannister with a scroll pattern, the motif of which is then repeated on the upper balcony's guardrails. With brick and stone quoins and window/door surrounds, the dwelling also boasts a tower, highlighting the edifice's verticality, which has preserved its brick quoins as well as its horizontal stringcourses indicating its different floors. As for the tower's upper level, it is clad in regional bricks and punctuated by windows topped with small glazed fanlights, while the manor's slate roof, hipped over the tower, but gabled everywhere else, has been completely redone and is punctuated by gable dormers with triangular pediments.