Challans, Pays de la Loire 85300

A 19th-century mansion with former outbuildings in 1-hectare grounds, in the centre of a village in the northwest of the Vendée area. The property is located in the village's centre but is protected by 1 hectare of uninterrupted land, set around a 19th-century mansion, its outbuildings and a vast, walled orchard and vegetable garden. From the street, there are two successive entrances: to the north, a gate that has become the everyday entrance leads, via an open space, to a gravelled esplanade used for car parking, while to the south, the historical entrance opens in front of the mansion's southern and most remarkable façade. The approximately 440-m² residence was erected in in 1881 and displays a balanced arrangement that mixes classical rigour with romantic ingenuity. It stands out thanks to its slate roofs topped by tall brick chimney stacks and punctuated by dormers with sculpted pediments. The rendered walls are dotted with tall windows equipped with louvred shutters and granite frames. The regularly shaped central section is flanked to the west by a rectangular tower and to the east by a round tower topped by a slender pepper-pot roof. The deep red central entrance door, framed by pilasters, stands atop a stone stoop that can be reached from a panoramic lawned terrace overlooking the tree-lined and flowery grounds. The Italian style outbuildings, known locally as the Clissonnais style, run alongside the west of the residence and extend to the former stabling area, which are remains of the original farm buildings. To the rear, there is an approximately 4,000-m² orchard and vegetable garden.