Love at First Sight
Story: John Vaughan Photography: Barry Herman
For most people fortunate enough to acquire a large dilapidated country house, its restoration is a daunting, ‘once in a life time’ challenge. However, for Sarah Tetley Hall, the wife of businessman and philanthropist, Sir Ernest Hall, it was nothing new. She had already undertaken the restoration of Royds Hall, a 16th century Grade II* house near Halifax, West Yorkshire, before she set eyes on Chateau d’Arnac, in the upper Dordogne valley, one of the loveliest regions of central France.
After Royds Hall was sold in 2003, Sarah Hall decided on a move to France and set about finding a comparable property in the Dordogne. “Rural France has a wealth of wonderful chateaux and manor houses and I had friends who had bought a lovely house near Bergerac. So I knew this was the area where I wanted to live”, explains Sarah Hall.
After a six month property search, driving thousands of miles and nearly a hundred property viewings, Sarah saw Chateau d’Arnac for the first time. “It was love at first sight, but the chateau was in a very poor condition. It had not been well renovated by the English owner who had bought it ten years before. The roofs were in a terrible state and water was coming in all over the place causing stains to the paintwork inside the main rooms, while the bedroom and bathroom walls had been covered with old anaglypta paper which was falling off in sheets”, says Sarah Hall.
Chateau d’Arnac is approached by tree lined drives, one of which has a 19th century Gatehouse or ‘gite’ which was the first part of the property to be restored and is now available to rent as a holiday cottage. A pretty stream, Le Ménoire, flows through the surrounding parkland, and past the walls of the chateau.
Immediately behind the chateau are well established oak and beech woods, frequented by wild boar, with woodpeckers nesting in the trees. With its turrets, spiral stairs, massive walls and rooms with huge open fireplaces, Chateau D’Arnac is regarded as one of the most romantic properties in this part of France. It has historical connections to Richard the Lionheart, Marshall Ney – Napoleon’s most illustrious general – and is the setting of various love stories associated with former owners
Outside the chateau the stream, Le Ménoire, is contained within a formal 18th century canal that has small weirs. On the far side of this stream there is a large ornamental pond and the Gatehouse. The gravelled courtyards, interspersed with trees and stone statues, provide ample parking for cars as does the parkland area surrounding the chateau.
The chateau dates mainly from the 15th century but parts appear to be much earlier, notably the north-west tower. Sarah Hall was determined that the character and history of the building should be reflected in the renovation while at the same time making it a comfortable family home and a place where both family and friends would want to come and stay.
“My first task was to make the kitchen both workable and family-friendly, and the heart of the house. The old kitchen was divided up into several small rooms one of which had a collapsed spiral staircase in the north-east tower. It was really medieval and hardly hygienic” says Sarah Hall.
The kitchen is now an enormous living space with a large central island, incorporating sinks and electric hobs. Over this Sarah Hall designed a hanging frame for pots and pans which cleverly incorporates down-lights providing ample light to work by. The extra-large Lacanche stove fills much of the rear wall.
The size of the main reception rooms, notably the Great Hall, was perhaps the greatest challenge. However, Sarah Hall was fortunate in that much of the 15th and 16th century furniture and paintings she bought from Royds Hall not only fitted well but looked remarkably appropriate at Chateau d’Arnac. The walls of the Great Hall are painted in a pastel blue, enhancing the light and airy feel of the room.
Like most genuine chateaux, which were built for defence as well as habitation, the lower rooms were functional and originally had few, if any, windows. In fact the old armoury at Chateau D’Arnac stills exists and now houses a collection of medieval knight’s armour and pikes. However, during the 18th century the dining hall and adjoining sitting room were given windows facing out west over the grounds.
With a house on the scale of Chateau D’Arnac, the priority was to let in light and create a sensible flow from room to room. The result is that the main ground floor rooms now connect into each other. The entrance hall, within the south tower, has a magnificent stone spiral staircase which leads up through the chateau, off which is a wide central passage on each floor. This provides access to the Great Hall and drawing room on the first floor as well as the principal bedrooms, including Marshall Ney’s bedroom. After Waterloo, Napoleon’s favourite general fled south and spent the night at Chateau D’Arnac before being arrested by Royalist forces.
The second floor has four bedroom suites and Sarah Hall has managed to create these without compromising the character and charm of the top floor of the chateau. There is also a wonderful surprise in the north-west tower. This is the original vaulted chapel with a mural showing Christ crucified between his mother and a Moorish looking apostle, presumably St. John. Sarah has left this un-restored for now and it provides an interesting contrast and an insight into the condition and fabric of the chateau when she took in on.
A special feature of the chateau is the terrace over the storerooms and stables. This overlooks the grounds and is an ideal space for outside entertaining on hot summer evenings. The terrace was originally created by Diarmid Campbell-Johnston, a Scottish gentleman who had a house at Cap D’Antibes. His coat of arms can be seen on the Gatehouse and above the main entrance to the chateau. Campbell-Johnston married Madame Maria Germaine Chataur the owner of Chateau D’Arnac in the 1930s. They were friends of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who reputedly stayed at the chateau on several occasions before World War II.
All the building work at Chateau D’Arnac has been personally supervised by Sarah Hall who had a very clear vision of how the restoration should be carried out. She only used a local architect to deal with planning regulations and structural details that needed to comply with French building permits from the local Mairie. Similarly, all the building work was carried out by local tradesmen and artisans with the occasional use of contractors for some of the stonework and ‘humping’.
“I spoke a reasonable amount of French before taking on the chateau” says Sarah Hall. ” but it rapidly got better as I begun to engage French builders and tradesmen. I was lucky to make friends with French people in the neighbourhood, who encouraged me with the project and were a great help in explaining some of the technical details to the builders”.
For Sarah Hall, much of the enjoyment of owning and restoring Chateau D’Arnac has been the links it has provided into the local community. So too has been learning about the history of the property and the immediate locality. Richard the Lionheart spent much of his life in this part of the Dordogne valley and died at Chateau de Chalus-Chabrol in 1199. It is more than likely that Richard would have known and visited Chateau D’Arnac. From the 17th century to the Revolution, the chateau was owned by the same French noble family, les Comtes des Ferrieres. The current head of the Ferrieres family, who lives in Paris, has visited the Chateau in recent years.
During World War II, the chateau was used by the French Resistance as a safe house for escapees, particularly airmen, en route to cross the Pyrenees. They were hidden in the attics.
Sarah Hall’s experience at Chateau D’Arnac has led to her advice being sought by several people who have bought a chateaux in the Dordogne region and she has also been engaged professionally as an interior designer and decorator. It has also led to her taking on a 1930s house, Les Noyers, in the beautiful and historic nearby village of Curemonte. The village, like several others in the vicinity of Chateau D’Arnac, is listed as a ‘Village de France’ and was home to the writer Collette. Like the Gatehouse, Les Noyers can be rented for short breaks, weekends or holidays.
“The restored 15th century chateau stands in its own park through which runs a charming stream, Le Menoire. A joy of staying there is to wake hearing the stream running outside your bedroom window.”
