Le Chant du Champ

They would no doubt have loved to come up with the name themselves, but it was already written on the gate when they first discovered the house. Le Chant du Champ—what a promise. It may not be entirely unrelated to the fact that they immediately imagined giving new life to this bourgeois residence, with its manor-like proportions and folly-like charm. On the edge of a village, surrounded by fields—those same fields that, having also fallen under the spell of the Gâtinais, Henri Troyat once described as “the sea, but without the water”—and, fittingly enough, on the shore of a pond, the house, built at the turn of the twentieth century, is full of Art Nouveau flourishes. A magnificent fireplace, remarkable terrazzo floors, wrought-iron doors… Rumour even has it that the original owner, who built the house, brought back many of its decorative features from the 1900 Paris Exposition Universelle. Louis and Marie have preserved, restored and reimagined these period details, pairing them with carefully sourced vintage finds and a handful of contemporary favourites to create a place that honours its history while feeling firmly rooted in the present. There are still a few outbuildings to reinvent and a greenhouse waiting to be tamed, but the house has retained its free-spirited, unconventional character. It feels only natural, then, that alongside the themed retreats they already host, they plan to welcome artists in residence very soon.