Blois

Set among the gentle hills of the Loire Valley, this eighteenth-century farmhouse had been untouched for decades. The stone walls — tuffeau and local limestone — bore the beautiful imperfections of centuries. Our mandate was not restoration in the classical sense, but a careful reawakening: to let the structure breathe again while layering in warmth and contemporary comfort.

We worked with the existing palette: stone, earth, natural light. Lime plaster replaced synthetic renders, exposing the texture of the original masonry beneath. New openings were cut with surgical precision to frame views of the surrounding meadows and the distant silhouette of Château de Blois. Floors were laid in reclaimed terracotta, each tile carrying the memory of another building, another time.

The interiors are deliberately sparse. A freestanding wood-burning stove anchors the main living space. Linen, raw oak, and handmade ceramics complete the material story — a rural retreat that feels both ancient and entirely of the present.