Château in Nantes | Vipp

Situated along the Erdre river, a château from the 18th century has been restored to its former glory by a Dutch couple with talent for antiques and a predilection for functional objects.

The château
The château is located by the Erdre river, a 10-minute drive from Nantes in western France. The 450m2 manor covers four floors and is built in in typical Louis XVI style in 1750 by shipowners from Nantes. The 1.4 hectare ground is encircled by four small pavilions, two of them originally an orangery and an old servant’s house. The garden’s big cedar trees were planted by the end of the 18th century when a relative of the first owners brought them to Europe from Louisiana, USA.

Francois the 1st of France used to say that the Erdre was the most beautiful river in France. 97km long it passes some of the finest 18th century castles in western France on its downstream path towards Nantes where it joins the river Loire.

Originally from Tiel in the Netherlands, Trude and Peter, decided ten years ago to move to Provence, Vaison la Romaine, with their two children. Here, Trude opened her antique shop ‘Plein-Sud’, one of the first antique dealers who introduced antique Scandinavian furniture to the South of France.

The restoration & interior design
Conserving the well-kept facade and interior walls, Trude and Peter, began an extensive renovation of the withered interior. Apart from most of the original flooring and the Louis XV style fireplace in the living room the interior is completely transformed. The pathway in the garden towards the river was covered with pebbles and more than 75 box trees were aligned and planted to mark the path.

With Trude’s professional talent for interior design and antiques combined with a predilection for functional objects, the couple has restored this history-charged château to its former glory. The style is primarily antique furniture and accessories, family heirlooms, contrasted with few, highly modern objects, such as the kitchen.

“I saw this kitchen in a French magazine and immediately asked my Danish friend to go see it in real life in Vipp’s showroom in Copenhagen. We bought it without ever having seen it. But I thought that its industrial look would make the perfect contrast to our very soft interior. To us the Vipp kitchen is modern, yet timeless, which is why it fits into this historic building. I especially love how the steel kitchen interacts with the old stone floor” - Trude