Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, La Basse Normandie 14170

A sumptuous house from the late 19th century with lush grounds, nestled 30 minutes from the English Channel in Normandy's Calvados department. The property is just a stone's throw from a 13th-century Gothic church. The road is lined with picturesque timer-framed dwellings and little farmhouses. A thuja hedge grows along a low brick wall with iron railings. At the right-hand end of it, a gate leads onto a shady driveway. From there, the drive lined with tall trees runs west, towards the house. The sumptuous dwelling was built at very end of the 19th century. It is an elegant home set in splendid grounds. Before, the building was known as a chateau, as were many houses built by the upper-middle classes in the period just before the First World War. Its elevations are rendered with a cream-coloured coating of local sand. The architectural embellishments are classical with stone capitals, garlands, exposed quoins and window surrounds that stand out in a pure white tone. The facade is more ornate than the garden-facing elevation. The house has a raised ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. A flight of front steps, edged with wrought-iron balustrades, leads up to the main entrance door. The facade has four windows on the ground floor - two on either side of the entrance door - and six windows on the first floor. And along the second floor, in the roof space, there are five elegant dormers. The rear elevation has two sets of ground-floor French windows that lead out to a large terrace, which you reach via a double set of steps. There are three other tall windows in the rear elevation on the ground floor and, above them, five windows on each upper floor. The house's hipped mansard roof has slate tiles and is crowned with finials. Two imposing chimney stacks - one at each end - rise up from it. At the front, a gravelled drive marks the paths for walking and driving. Around this driveway, lush lawns draw your gaze to beautiful views of the grounds. The grounds form an English-style garden with majestic age-old trees dotted around the grand edifice. By the house's entrance, neat yew hedges underline the ground-floor windows. At the back, there is a swimming pool. It lies parallel to the rear elevation. From a patio above the terrace, steps lead down to a paved poolside area that surrounds the swimming pool. Three palm trees tower around it. A gravelled path separates two extensive lawns that stretch to the edges of the property. Tall trees tower around the sides of the vast plot. There is an old greenhouse on the grounds too, as well as an outbuilding with a 150m floor area. This outbuilding needs to be renovated. Beyond, there is a bucolic backdrop and the River Dives, which flows gently.