Coutances, La Basse Normandie 50200

A former 17th and 18th century country chateau-hotel and its outbuildings, set in 12 ha of grounds in the Cotentin region, 20 km from the beaches. In the Coutance pastureland, with its meadows and dense hedgerows, a minor road leads to a hamlet. The gates of the property open onto a vast courtyard and the chateau. The old 12th-century manor house and the gardens are located to the rear, from where you can enjoy uninterrupted views over a large meadow and the horizon of fields and woods. There are also a small and a large outbuilding used for technical purposes. Lastly, the grounds and groves of trees it contains stretch down the slopes of a small hillside. The L-shaped chateau is topped by slate gable roofs. The elongated coursed rubble masonry walls create a monochrome display of warm tones, brightened in places by light coloured rendering. The window surrounds as well as the stringcourse and cornice separating the different levels are of dressed granite in alternating shades of red and grey. Four bays on one side and nine on the other, all widely spaced, punctuate the facades. The tall openings feature small-paned casement windows and French windows. Their gentle arches soften the straight lines of the most classical architecture. Dating back to the 12th century, the manor house comprises two aligned, slightly staggered buildings, with a a single-pitched roof with slate tiles laid in a diamond pattern on the large one and a gable roof on the smaller one. The walls are of coursed rubble masonry, like those of the chateau, and are supported by impressive buttresses. Lastly, the rectangular surrounds of the openings are also made of dressed granite, some containing lattice windows.