We are finally HOME
With a steaming cup of coffee I am looking across the rolling hills of the French countryside on a misty fall morning. Broken clouds, filtered sunlight, birds magically ascending from the valley floor into the light. Behind me is a large stone structure rising up through the mist, a stone castle known as Château Avensac, and it is impossible to believe that we now call it home, and were I dare to turn around and look at it I would think to myself “Shit, we actually own that!!”. In some ways the last month has been entirely surreal, fast paced and full of incredible ups and downs. Lets step back for a moment to September 6th 2021, the day we became the lords of the Château.
We had looked at many properties over the last six years and with the exception of one other property (Château Marcellus) nothing seemed to be the right fit. Either to small, or questionable location, too contemporary (19th century folly) or much too old (medieval stone castle with little to no windows), too expensive or in caving in - horrific condition, much too remote with nothing around, or directly in the center of a town surrounded by high traffic streets and odd businesses. Then came Château d’Avensac, this one ticked all the boxes, beautiful location, lovely and quiet surroundings, and villages that make you hum Disney songs as you drive through. The Château itself is the perfect size, not too big, and certainly not small! and is situated on the precipice of a hillside at the edge of the charming small village known by the same name. The land that the Château sits on is varied in its presentation, from flat parkland with massive trees, to steep inclines with ancient stone staircases climbing the hillside and landing on multiple terraces. We have been told that the home itself was designed in the late 1700’s but not actually built until the very beginning of the 1800’s. Built by French nobility on the foundations of a ruin built in the 1300’s, our Château was built as a permanent home rather than a get away country house. The Château seems almost contemporary in its very symmetrical layout and beautiful flow. In general rooms have not been butchered up or drastically altered over time and although attempts were made to install bathrooms, and other modern amenities, they at least were created in dressing rooms and servants sleeping quarters rather than repurposing entire bedrooms or cutting rooms in two. Everything is tired and dated, and a bit rustic and shabby, but once the 1950’s is stripped out, the ravages of time have been reversed, and we install new infrastructure (plumbing, electric, heating, and bedroom air-conditioning, I will be able to look at the Château proper as a historic blank canvas ready to be reborn. I say Château proper, as there are other structures on the property including a huge wine chai, and the ancient gate tower, former chapel, and servants quarters that it is best, for now at least, to whistle a happy tune and look the other way!
We purchased the Château from the heirs of the Count de Lorgeril. After a long, drawn out, and painful escrow period, we sat down with the Real Estate lawyers on September 6th to blindly sign the legal documents. We had spent so little time in and at this massive property and there were still spaces that we had never explored that we were not entirely sure of what we were buying. As the last signature was placed upon the mountain of documents, six incredibly large keys were slid slowly sideways from in front of the former owners to rest in front of Phillip… after what seems like an eternity of staring at those keys he picked them up and the deed was done.
Everyone involved slipped quietly out of the room and we were left standing there still marveling at the keys… and then, like a shot, we were out and jetting to the Château, unlocking the gates and throwing the doors open! Word had been spread through the village that the boys were coming and the Château would no longer be a shrouded mystery behind gates and walls, and we were greeted by a “Welcome home!” sign that had been placed upon the gates by a lovely lady of the village named Anne (thank you Anne!). That very evening we welcomed the entire village to join us for champagne and wine to toast the new era, and to explore the place that had always been forbidden before!
I will admit that we have spent days and days wandering around like zombies not knowing where to turn or what to do. But that feeling passed quickly as we realized that we needed to carve out a place to live in this monster of a house. A bedroom, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a sitting room. All temporary of course, but a place to live nonetheless. And the cleaning began! Weeks of cleaning and disposing of items left in the Château that we did not want. Guests continue to come and stay with us and join in the fun, Garry from LA, Alain from Healdsburg, and Todd Cole from San Francisco, have all been with us so far and we thank them from the bottoms of our hearts for distracting us from our worries and feelings of complete overwhelmedness (is that actually a word???). We have set up guest accommodations with some shared amenities and they definitely fall into the glamping category, but I have not heard any complaints so far, of course keeping the guests liquored up does help sooth any discomfort.
Most of the furnishings that you see in the photos are part of a large group of items we purchased from the former owners and a handful of things we purchased locally. There is a misconception that everything was left behind, trust me it was not! As we try to figure out how to use the pieces we bought, or resell some as they are simply too precious or delicate, we are making an attempt to define a style. Of course all of it will evolve and change, and furnishings will move around the Château until they find their spot, or I will have to show them the door.
Two weeks ago we were finally clean and everything organized! We felt like we were at ground zero and ready to move forward, then the phone rang. The ship was in port, the ship? what ship? the ship that held the forty foot hightop container that had all of our worldly goods in it had arrived in France. (In case you are wondering, our Truck ‘Betty’ is coming separately.) We had not expected our container for at least another four to six weeks, and we had nowhere to put everything. Nowhere except, everywhere! Three days later a massive semi pulled up to the gates and six men shuttled everything we held dear from the gates to the front doors in a smaller moving van. Boxes and boxes and boxes littering every room of the ground floor. It was enough to make you want to just sit down and just cry.
It has been incredibly full days of playing catchup, but everything has been sorted, opened to check for damage, and then resealed for another day,. We are back at ground zero, in the… shall we call it… Planning stage! We are drawing the Château so that we have floor plans and cuts to send out to the craftsmen that specialize in heating, plumbing, and electrics. We have been meeting with roofers (in case there are any issues), tree surgeons, gardeners, house keepers, and anyone that does anything that we might need now or in the future. My clients are yelling at me, and Phillip is managing to keep up with his work through all of this. At the end of the day all we can do is… put our feet up!
Fall has arrived in the Gers, and we worry about a winter with very little heat, but we have to keep in mind that this is an adventure! There will be a day very soon when it is all perfect and beautiful, and we spend our days enjoying our guests and sharing this amazing existence in a Château that we now call home.
