Think the words ‘French chateau’ and images flow of illustrious, magical, glorious architecture that captures a time in history when buildings were built big and soaring, curious and delightful. ‘French chateaux’ has become a generic design and style term that speaks of both serious, awe-inspiring structures and enviable living style. The chateau, in whatever state, is a pinnacle of Gallic ideology that stretches back centuries; the epitome of grace, wealth and power.
We in the UK have been busily buying up French property for a long, long time – anything and everything from barns and farmhouses all the way to the ultimate prize of owning a chateau. Preferably with a moat and extensive grounds. France is a huge country with a huge history and a huge appetite for style – we simply love it. If we cannot afford the second home, we buy the floorboards and put them in our British homes; same applies to limestone. Any limestone. Troughs, pond surrounds, gate posts, statuary, obelisks and more. Original oak doors become artworks in walled gardens, and old limestone slabs as valuable to garden designers as though pure gold. This appetite for old French building materials is as fashionable (if not sensible) now as it has ever been, because it speaks to quality, integrity, luxury done in the French way.
If this past year-and-a-half has taught us anything about luxury, it is, for sure, that an escape to the country has a new level of desirability all of its own. We seek some peace with perhaps, a more serene take on our own lives and how we want to live. This fits well with the French, who keep their shops shut for lunch and culturally, continue to respect time for themselves. This romanticism is a form of luxury and can be adapted, edited and added to our lives. French chateau style has already been reimagined everywhere in our everyday lives – the muted, greyed and dusty colours, the proportions of windows, gracious mirrors, the way rooms lead from one to another and most important of all, the way these spaces make you feel. Not such a serious stretch to say that this feeling is a new luxury norm – wickedly attractive because we can all own a little piece of chateau chic ourselves.