A 390-m² private mansion with 1,300 m² of grounds, in the middle of the Breton city of Rennes, near the Thabor gardens.
The city of Rennes, the administrative centre of the Ille-et-Vilaine department and prefecture of the Brittany region, is known for its old historical centre with its timber-framed buildings, 18th-century private mansions as well as its economic drawing power and student population.
At a slight distance from the downtown area, but still quickly accessible by foot, this private mansion is very close to Thabor park, which, created by the brothers Eugène and Denis Bühler, renowned landscapers from the 19th century, includes a French-style garden, an English-style garden and a large botanical garden, the whole spanning approximately 10 hectares.
The Place du Parlement, Place de la Mairie and the downtown area in general are accessible by foot in only a few minutes. Elementary, middle and high schools as well as universities are also located a few minutes away by foot or the metro.
The high-speed rail train station, less than 10 minutes away via the metro, provides connections to Paris in approximately 1.5 hours. The Rennes-Bretagne airport is located 20 minutes away by car and provides service to many French cities, such as Lyon, Nice or Marseille, as well as European ones like London, Dublin or Amsterdam.
The Emerald coast and Saint-Malo are both one hour away by car, while the Morbihan Gulf can be reached in 1 hour and 20 minutes.
From the street, a wrought-iron gate, flanked on either side by a caretaker's cottage, opens onto a cobblestone courtyard where up to three vehicles can be parked.
A tall stone wall borders the property, while on the south side, the residence overlooks grounds of nearly 1,000 m².
The private mansion, built around 1830, was initially part of a larger housing estate, with more than 20 residences planned. However, it was never completed in full and resulted in the construction of only six private mansions.
Built out of rubble stone schist masonry masked by light-coloured plaster and topped with a hipped slate roof, the house has nearly 400 m² of inhabitable space distributed over a raised ground floor above a garden level as well as an upper floor and converted attic space. Its street-side façade displays five vertical rows of windows and its roof contains six skylights, while on the garden side, three slate shed dormer windows provide natural light for the top floor. Tall red brick chimneys topped with chimney pots are located on each gable end, while a third red brick chimney is located on a section of the roof ridge.
On the ground floor on the courtyard side and the first floor on the garden side, tall windows are topped with arched fanlights, as is the front door on the courtyard side, this time decorated with ironwork. Stringcourses, cornices and moulded window and door surrounds cadence the façade, while upstairs, the large-paned windows are safeguarded by wrought-iron guardrails.
The Private Mansion
The ground floor
From the courtyard, the front door opens onto a vast vestibule, the floor of which is covered in light stone tiles with blue cabochons, while a quarter-turn staircase protected by a wooden handrail and white spindles leads to the upper level. The entranceway also provides access to a small sitting room to the left and a large living room on the southern side, which includes a grey marble open-hearth fireplace. Adjacent to the living room is a dining room, the whole creating a vast reception space, whose immensity is highlighted by its high ceilings and large windows. The décor is of high quality and quite refined: original herringbone hardwood floors, wainscoting, Haussmannian three-panel doors as well as painted ceilings with friezes, roses and moulding. A fitted kitchen is also accessible from the entranceway and looks out on the ...
