luxury mill for sale Troyes, France

An authentic 19th-century watermill that has been turned into a charming guesthouse, nestled in a quaint village in France’s Yonne department. The property is nestled on the western edge of the village. A white double-leaf gate leads into it. On the right, a gravelled space runs alongside the watermill’s facade. The watermill is a huge rectangular building that faces south. Its large size and uniformity make the edifice stand out. It is made of small white stones that are typical of rural dwellings in the local region. A hipped slate roof crowns the building. To the left, there is a clear view of the arches of a bridge that crosses the River Serein, which flows beneath the watermill in the middle of it. From 1837 onwards, the building had several lives before it was converted into a guesthouse. The elongated edifice runs from east to west. It has four floors and a basement. Its tall, broad facade is punctuated with rectangular windows evenly spaced out and set in surrounds of dressed stone. Two stringcourses, embellished with decorative metal features, demarcate the levels. Many gabled dormers stand along the roof, which is crowned with finials. On the north side of the watermill, there is an outbuilding designed as a workshop and an area of lush land that extends along the millrace. On this rear side there is also a parking area for guests and visitors.

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A large watermill nestled in the valley of the River Moivre in France’s Champagne region. In 1260, the village seigneur gave the Abbaye de Lachalade, which is located around 50 kilometres from the village, a plot of land beside a chapel so they could build a watermill there. We do not know the exact date when the first watermill was built here, but it was probably shortly after this plot was given. Throughout the Ancien Régime in France, the successive watermills here were all managed in the same way: the abbots from the Abbaye de Lachalade, the owners, would rent out the plot with the associated rights and would provide the millstones. An official lessor, usually a noble from Châlons-en-Champagne, would provide funding for construction and maintenance of the watermill. He himself would rent it out to a miller or employ this miller. In 1499, the King’s Treasurer for the province of Champagne bought the neighbouring farm and leased the mill. His descendants did the same up to 1764, when the current owner’s ancestor took over the place. The mill was restored in around 1850. Milling here ended in 1905. From a small secondary road, a long tarmacked drive leads up to the mill. This mill stands opposite the old farm, which is no longer part of the property. Only a path of white stones, which belongs to the neighbour, forms a boundary with the mill’s court. Behind the latter, the property includes a small garden enclosed with wrought-iron fencing and with the river that flows in a curve beneath the mill. In this garden there is an elegant 19th-century aviary with a zinc roof. On the other side of the river, the property extends with a ridge that looks down over the mill.

A 16th and 17th century former mill, surrounded by 6 hectares of meadows, in the Puisaye region, 2 hours from Paris. A double entrance gate opens onto a large lawned area dotted with some ten tall trees, and a gravel parking area. The complex comprises several adjoining buildings facing the main structure, the mill. The mill faces north-south, while the outbuildings face south and west. A pedestrian entrance provides access to the premises, protected by a canopy of local tiles. The mill stands in the middle of the reach. The wheel with a diameter of around 4m abuts the building. A small wooden bridge crosses the river. There is a spring close to the mill, from which blue water gushes into the headrace. The residence overlooks a number of authentic features, including a well built of local Puisaye brick, which can still be used and is between 3 and 6 metres deep. The presence of alluvial groundwater, which is always cool, means that a water-to-water heat pump could be installed. A number of outbuildings, each topped with an old country-style roof, complete the complex: a barn, a traditional oven, an old sheepfold and a large workshop for drying wood. Finally, at the back of the house, there is a vast hangar hidden behind a hedge. A dedicated gate provides access to this hangar for the estate's farm vehicles and also links via the ford over the millstream to the meadows.