Angers, Pays de la Loire 49000

A quasi-royal château - The finest and most outstanding 18th-century château in Anjou - 300 hectares - Private racecourse -17th18th century architecture - Magnificent park designed by Edouard André - Sumptuous 18th-century interior decoration featuring marble and wood paneling - Private racecourse - Listed historic monument - 300 km from Paris, Angers, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire. Set within 300 hectares, this property of royal appearance, owned in the 19th century by descendants of the English royal family, stands as one of the most brilliant and sumptuous historic estates in western France, both for its classical 17th- and 18th-century architecture, its park designed by the great landscape architect Edouard André (notably responsible for the Monte Carlo park), and its interior decoration marked by superb 18th-century woodwork, a grand gallery, and a sumptuous marble salon; all overlooking, with a magnificent view, a rare private racecourse still in operation. The majestic private avenue, over one kilometer long and lined with century-old plane trees, winds through the park, offering superb vistas, and leads to a grand perspective revealing the most beautiful, brilliant, and elegant 18th-century château in Anjou, after passing through classical gardens of topiary, pools, and fountains. This property, described as quasi-royal, is clearly inspired by the Palace of Versailles: three grand approach perspectives, a U-shaped courtyard around a 17th-century building begun in 1635 and expanded in the 18th century with two lateral wings of outbuildings opening onto inner courtyards, and an eastwest orientation capturing sunlight throughout the day. Beyond the gate and the ha-has, the châteaus elegant courtyard is overlooked by a statue of Minerva symbolizing peace. A series of French windows leads into a sumptuous 24-meter-long through gallery, adorned with monumental columns, cabochon flooring, flooded with light, and opening onto the garden through eight French windows with a magnificent axial view. On the park side, a grand and elegant double staircase leads to the first floor. At one end of the gallery, a majestic staircase with a beautiful, airy flight of stone steps and wrought-iron railing leads to the upper floor. Behind it lies a wood-paneled library with cabochon flooring, opening onto the garden at ground level. A through chapel, accessible from both inside and outside, features a superb main altar with a large carved wooden altarpiece with pilasters, Corinthian capitals, twisted columns with vine scrolls, and three paintings: The Flight into Egypt, The Adoration of the Magi, and The Visitation, along with a crucifix. Painted and armorial stained glass from the 16th century depict a knight and Saint James. At the other end of the gallery, a fine 18th-century wood-paneled salon with a marble fireplace opens onto the garden, the dining room, and the grand marble salon. The marble salon, directly inspired by the Salon of War and Salon of Peace at Versailles, occupies a neoclassical pavilion built specifically in 1780. With 6-meter ceilings and 8.4 meters beneath the dome, flooded with light from six large French windows, this 80 m² salon features sumptuous 18th-century decoration in French marble, mirrors, pilasters with Ionic capitals, medallions, a marble fireplace with gilded bronze and Italian micro-mosaics, marble mosaic flooring, and 18th-century Italian marble marquetry panels. Two terracotta overdoor panels bear inscriptions reflecting Enlightenment ideals. Beneath a monumental domed ceiling with trellis decoration and a balustraded gallery, its dual east and south exposure offers a splendid dominant view of the racecourse. It is one of the most exceptional 18th-century private interiors in France. A sumptuous neoclassical rotunda built in 1905 houses the grand dining room, adorned with superb natural oak 18th-century wood paneling. With 5.5-meter ceilings and 70 m² of space, it opens through three French