Other buy in Tours Centre-Val de Loire

16th Century Moated Chateau 16c chateau * Moat, courtyard, park, etc. * Workshop/studio + guest accommodation. * Pool + guardians/gardener's lodge * Superb location * 20 mins from Tours 'You can't have it all' :. well, sometimes for the lucky few, you can. This magnificent historical property dates back to 1543 standing proud at the end of its private tree lined driveway, protected by its moat and bridged entrance gates this Loire Valley home offers seclusion and privacy assured whilst still only a short drive into one of France's most popular cities, Tours. Excellent national and international access with the added bonus of its own helicopter landing area this charming residence has been loved and enjoyed by the current owners for the last 20 years. A complete renovation has been undertaken and today we are pleased to offer a 'turn-key-solution' as either permanent or holiday/entertaining residence for the new lucky owners. Owned by the respective Kings of France until around the 18th century this chateau was made available to the king's personal financial managers and tax collectors in the Province of Touraine. Relatively untouched during the revolution and wars many of the original features are still in situ; from the large fireplaces, vaulted ceilings, pigeon tower and of course the moat on all four sides. Today the property offers a large well equipped kitchen/breakfast room (45m2) with open fireplace and separate utility room, a period vaulted dining hall (40m2), formal lounge with fireplace and views over the moat (62m2) and library with feature fireplace and moat views (40m2). Completing this floor on the main house we have guest restroom, laundry room and boiler room. The stone stairs leading to the first floor landing offer a choice of directions: to the right the master bedroom (45m2) and en-suite bathroom (bath and shower) and to the left a corridor leading to the 3 family bedrooms and a bathroom. The second floor offers guest lounge with exposed beam work and 3 guest bedrooms (2 guests and 1 Nanny's room) and 2 bathrooms. Across the courtyard the former chapel now offers an underground wine cellar (50m2), open plan working studio of 60m2 with restroom. The upper floors is a self-contained guest apartment. In the corners of the courtyard are two of the former square watchtowers providing storage space, workshop and dovecote - both of these could become additional accommodation if required. The estate covers 10 hectares with meadows, fields (agriculturally cultivated) forest, vegetable and herbal gardens as well as pool, decking, sun area, shower, etc. There is a garage with guardian/gardener accommodation above. Located in a private quiet setting around 20 mins from Tours with a choice of local amenities in the nearby market towns (the nearest one less than 5 mins away). An impressive quality historic home and one of only a small few of this style and era left standing in the area and very, very rare on the open market. Healey Fox Ref Number: HF62993 The Healey Fox Service With more than 30 years experience of the French property market the team at Healey Fox offer an efficient and professional service to anyone looking to buy a home in France. The company is based in Surrey in the U.K., where we are always happy to meet with prospective buyers. In France, we work with carefully selected bi-lingual agencies who have intimate knowledge of their areas and properties and will be on hand to assist you during your visits and throughout the purchasing process. The team in the U.K. is headed by Dan Brewer who was educated in France and has lived and worked there. We have huge knowledge of the country and are always happy to help you to choose the right area for your personal needs and to help you select properties to suit your requirements. Once all that is sorted we will make viewing appointments with our partner agents who will show you selected properties and help you find the right one to buy. Throughout the purchase process both the team in the U.K. and the agents in France will work with you to ensure a safe, efficient and pleasurable buying experience. If this is the service you are looking for, not only have you found it with Healey Fox but the good news is, it is free! You pay exactly the same commission to the French agent for the purchase as if you walked in off the street, the agent then shares that commission with us. If a professional, free service is what you would like, call us, email us or check out our houses online. The Healey Fox website has over 3,000 property listings across France, as well as a comprehensive news section covering the different aspects of buying, owning a property and living in France. There are also sections covering French mortgages, money transfers to France and other useful information about buying in this magical country. Centre Regional Description The region technically titled Centre is also known as Centre-Val de Loire and as such causes confusion as it so closely overlaps in name and landscape with Pays de la Loire. Centre battled with the Ministry for the Interior to gain the name Loire to promote tourism which, in many ways it deserves, as the Centre department contains most of the Loire chateaux. Unfortunately it failed to gain Loire in its region name but tends to add it on for purposes of tourism. Hence the boundaries of Pays de la Loire and Centre merge and descriptions of each department can apply to the other. At Healey Fox we recommend that to get a feel of Centre you also read our description of Pays de la Loire. Centre combines three provinces, Orleans with the departments of Loire. Eure and Loir et Cher, Berry with departments of Cher and Indre and Touraine otherwise known as Indre et Loire. At Healey Fox we specialise mainly in Indre et Loire with a few properties also in Loir et Cher. We chose Indre et Loire as it has the most beautiful properties imaginable, small chateaux, manors and hunting lodges. Houses for sale in Indre et Loire are Centre is in the centre of northern France and is split in the middle by the Loire valley. It is situated south west of Paris and extends to the northern boundaries of Limousin and Auvergne. It is a department of chateaux and farmland. Large cereal growing farms give us the fields of golden corn in the north of the department which then give place to fields of sunflowers and rapeseed to the south and to the extensive vineyards producing the famous Loire wines. There is some beef and dairy farming throughout the department and flowers and apple orchards along the river valley. The landscape of Centre is reasonably flat which produces those amazing long distance views and big skies. Chateaux and cycles along the Loire Everyone seems to have their favourite chateaux and there is plenty of information on line about each of them. For me I think it is hard to beat Azay-le-Rideau, Villandry and, of course, Chateau d'Usse otherwise known as the Sleeping Beauty Chateau. Even if you have your own house in Centre and spend a lot of time there, it will be hard to ever bore of visiting the chateaux of the Loire valley and their beautiful gardens. If you are a garden lover, the Garden Festival held at the Chateau Chaumont-sue-Loire each summer is really worth a visit. Owning your own property in Indre et Loire, hopefully means that you can take life leisurely which may allow you to cycle part (or all) of the 800km Loire a Velo trail. This beautiful trail takes full advantage of the relative flatness of the region, so cycling is relatively easy and the cycle route takes you to many of the chateaux and through some of the lovely small towns and villages. It's. pretty amazing way to arrive to visit a chateaux! Life in the Centre Life in this region is mainly rural but with its reasonable proximity to Paris the population in many of its pretty market towns has increased recently. There is always something to see and do in towns like Blois which is a historic town on the northern banks of the Loire, Chinon with its medieval castle which was built by Henry II of England and Loche with its medieval fortress, Renaissance castles old city gates and cobbled streets. For lovers of sophisticated shopping, museums and galleries the bustling university town of Tours is a good day out. Access to your house in Centre-Val de Loire, from the U.K. is simple and fairly fast. Drive time from most of the channel ports is 3 - 4 hours, the airport at Tours has many flights arriving from the U.K. or there is the TGV connecting to Eurostar in Paris.