Chateau La Campagne

Chateau la Campagne is a romantic and beautiful early 17th Century Château, located in the lush and verdant countryside of Upper Normandy. Set in magnificent grounds, this 400 year old stately home is steeped in history. The Château was first built as a hunting lodge in 1606, and then enlarged in 1661 in the reign of Louis XIV. It has a rich and dramatic history which further adds to the historical interest of this important piece of French architecture.

The Chateau is surrounded by a 6 hectare park, where thoroughbred horses graze on either side of the house, beneath avenues of centuries’ old limes. During the summer months, the Château is available for exclusive rental, affording our guests a unique blend of luxury, tranquillity and privacy, providing four double en suite bedrooms. The Château has been completely redecorated to an extremely high standard, is furnished throughout with period antiques, family heirlooms and fine furniture, and hung with tapestries and paintings, giving the place a unique and lived-in quality, a real family home.

Throughout the house, the ceilings are high and often beamed in oak, and the windows are tall and full of sunlight. All bedrooms have their own en suite bathrooms, equipped with bath or shower, heated towel rail and magnifying illuminated shaving mirror. All bathrooms have double basins and the modern taps. Where beds are twin singles, they can be made up as one double bed. There are 6 telephones scattered about the house, a fax machine, and an ADSL Wi-Fi socket for laptops.

On the ground floor is the Computer room, Salle de Chasse, entrance hall, Dining Room, Drawing Room and Library. All these rooms are large and sunlit with views onto both sides of the château. All are furnished with antiques, family pictures and comfortable sofas. There are fireplaces in the 3 main reception rooms.

On the mezzanine floor is a modern kitchen with 2 dishwashers (Miele), every conceivable kitchen gadget and ample glass and crockery for the occupants and friends. The old kitchen, which now serves as a family dining room, has a huge fireplace, with an antique mechanical spit for roasting up a whole pig or lamb. There are 3 cellars for storage and a wine cellar.

On the 1st floor are 3 extra spacious double bedrooms with views overlooking each side of the park, all with en suite bathrooms. Two of the bathrooms contain double basin, lavatory, bidet, large bath, shower, heated towel rail and illuminated shaving mirror, and “his”and “her” cupboards. The 3rd en suite bathroom contains double basin, lavatory, large bath, heated towel rail and illuminated shaving mirror.

On the top floor there are 2 double bedrooms with views overlooking each side of the park, with walk-in closet space and en suite bathrooms, containing double basin, lavatory, shower, heated towel rail and illuminated shaving mirror. A utility room is fitted with linen cupboards, with a large capacity washing machine (Bosch) and tumble dryer (Bosch), cylinder iron (Miele) and steam iron. There is also a playroom with TV and exercise machines.

Outside the Chateau is surrounded by a semi-circular dry moat, with a bridge over it. The dovecote in the park is capable of housing 5,000 pigeons. On either side of the house are large paddocks, stretching away in the distance, containing thoroughbred racing horses and their foals. There are fine avenues of hundred year old lime trees, a large orchard of mixed fruit trees, and woods for children to play in.

*Please note, locations shown on the maps are approximations only

The chateau is 15 minutes from the famous port of Honfleur and 30 minutes from Deauville, with its luxury boutiques, sandy beaches, restaurants and casino. Next door is Trouville, with its well-known fish market and brasseries on the port. Beuzeville for all shops and supermarkets is 10 minutes away.

There are at least 11 golf courses in the area, all first class, at Deauville (3), Tourgeville, St. Julien, and St. Gatien, Houlgate, Cabourg, Caen, Omaha Beach, Etretat. There are sandy beaches all along the coast, trails for hikers, dedicated bicycle routes, and boating on the river Seine and the Risle, one of its tributaries.

Trains from Paris stop at Pont l’Evèque and Deauville; the Paris autoroute A13 is 7 minutes away (exit 28); Calais and the Channel Tunnel are 2.5 hours away, via the Pont de Normandie, and it is motorway all the way. Ferries from Portsmouth go to Caen (50 minutes) and Le Havre (35 minutes). The airport at Saint Gatien is for private or charter flights.

A chef is available to cook evening meals (by request – at extra charge). 12 hours maid service per week is included. Babysitting by arrangement. Gardener included.

- Security deposit: 10% of the rental price. This will be refunded in full after departure subject to damage inspection.
- Linen & Towels: Included.
- Energy costs: Included.
- End of stay cleaning: Included.
- Arrival time: 4pm.
- Departure time: 10am.
- Pets: Allowed downstairs only.
- Smoking: No.
- It is recommended that all guests take out insurance to cover against potential cancellation and any accidental damage caused during your stay at the property.

Staying at the Chateau was an amazing experience! The Chateau itself is wonderful: rooms and bathrooms are huge (the biggest I've ever slept in) and tastefully decorated. Everything is spotless. The breakfast was incredible. Unfortunately stayed here for only one night :-(. We had some difficulties to reach it: we asked for information at the near city center, but it seemed that nobody knew it (not the police, either!). Anyway it was our fault: just have a look to the location and pay attention to the gps coordinate at their website.... If you are looking for a Normandie Experience, stay here!

Edna

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Staying at the Chateau was a perfect introduction to elegant living in Normandy and at the same time gave us a wonderful view of nearby small villages and seacoast towns. In the winter it was very easy to get around from this base.

PHP Group

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Being the only visitors in this chateau was a special experience; having this whole beautiful renovated and decorated chateau for ourselves, gave the feeling of temporary owning it! Furthermore, the facilities (like bathroom and breakfast) were very well taken care of. A location I can really recommend for a romantic purpose.

Maartje

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In the course of ones travels rarely is found a more delightful combination of elegance, comfort and hospitality as at this Chateau in Upper Normandy, France. The English innkeepers, Robin and Nicola, are the epitome of attentive and thoughtful hosts. The chateau is conveniently located not far from Honfleur in a beautiful setting of green fields with horses grazing in the distance. The chateau itself is a well maintained example of 17th century architecture with an impressive façade and an elegant entry. Once inside, the décor is in keeping with the period with family antiques and original artwork worthy of a museum, all tastefully displayed and freely available for the guests to enjoy. All the guest rooms are not only furnished in antiques but also fully modernized with high quality fixtures. They even have installed a water softener to give you a bathing experience rare in European lodging. From accessories to WIFI, the Gages’ attention to detail provides a truly first class setting at a surprisingly modest cost to the traveler. What a great pleasure to lounge in the drawing room in front of a fire while planning an outing to one of the nearby Michelin starred restaurants. This may be problematic only because the breakfast table is so loaded with home made jams and local products that you won’t leave hungry. Since the building is not handicapped accessible, climbing the stairs a few times a day will help burn off some of the calories packed into the Norman cuisine.

Anonymous

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We rented the Chateau for the weekend to have a party following our wedding in England the previous Friday. 15 or so of us stayed in the house - the other guests were bussed in from Honfleur. We cannot speak highly enough of Robin or his house. This was, simply, a superb place to celebrate our marriage. We'd set out to find a charming but accessible chateau in France but, in reality, never thought we'd find anything as perfect as this - and all at a very reasonable cost. Robin (the owner) was unfailingly charming, amusing and helpful and we couldn't possibly have organised the event withour his help. Nothing was too much trouble. The house and gardens - as others have said - are exquisite. The downstairs rooms are large and beautifully furnished. The bedrooms are also huge and well appointed. One of the problems with this sort of site is that it's often difficult to distinguish between the reviews of backpackers who come across a bit of comfort and stye and rave about it and others who circumnavigate the globe staying in five star hotels and find fault with everything. We've travelled a fair amount and stayed in some very nice hotels. This place is a real gem. It's got character - real character. But it's also extremely comfortable and superbly furnished. And that's what sets it apart.

A&G

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The chateau was amazing; it was incredible and was our favorite stop. My family and I went to France for 2 weeks and stopping at this chateau was exactly what we needed from the rate race back home (were from Miami). If you want something quite, tranquil and cozy this is the place. Furthermore, we loved the local restaurant that was recommended; we ate there twice. Robin was friendly and courteous he made sure all our needs and questions were meet. So if you want something that takes you away from everything this is the place to stay.

Turbay Family

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We spent a really wonderful week at Chateau la Campagne with four other couples (in part to celebrate my 60th birthday) in May - June this year and cannot speak highly enough of the experience. Many thanks to Robin for his trust in us, as, after showing us around, he returned to England and allowed our group to share his beautiful, but at the same time very comfortable home. The photos on the internet looked really lovely and I must admit I was a little concerned that the chateau would not live up to our expectations as has happened in the past. I need not have worried, as, if possible, it even exceeded them. The rooms are huge and beautifully decorated with modern ensuite bathrooms and the kitchen was equipped with everything you could possibly need to prepare & serve fabulous meals from local produce for a large group (with the minor exception of a good sharp knife) and the boulangerie, charcuterie & restaurant in the village were also extremely good. Luckily running up and down the stairs and long walks in the surrounding countryside kept us from putting on too much weight! There is so much to do and see in the region that several of us are seriously considering a return visit in a couple of year's time. Thanks also to Martine, the very helpful housekeeper who came in for a couple of hours each morning. All in all, we felt that this was the best holiday we have had in Europe (and also extremely good value) and we are frequent travellers with high expectations.

Margot, Australia July 2011

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