A 16th-century Normandy manor house with formal gardens designed by Russell Page

To reach this beautifully kept house in Normandy, nestling among gentle hills, you follow a mean­dering route through lush pastures lined with wide hedgerows. The famous Normandy dairy herds graze here, and their sweet milk is used to make Camembert – there is even a cheese museum at Livarot. The surrounding hills are planted with apple orchards that produce a dry cider and its brandy equivalent, Calvados.

The manor house and its adjoining barn – known as the pressoir, where until recently apples were pressed – were built in the sixteenth century for the estate manager of the Duc d’Harcourt. In the Middle Ages, the land around the house as far as the eye could see was owned by the duke. The rich soil encouraged the growth of oak forest, though later, the oaks were felled to make way for apple orchards and, as you can see in this house, the timber was used for building. The exposed framework, infilled with clay mixed with straw or horsehair, gives the vernacular architecture its character.

After the French Revolution and the abolition of primogeniture, the house was divided up, and when the present owner came to buy it in 1973, it was derelict. Typically for Normandy, there was no garden; it sat among apple trees, roaming hens and grazing livestock.

A view down towards the cottage garden takes in the pressoir to the right.

Fritz von der Schulenburg

The house was meticulously restored under the guidance of the Monu­ment Historique and is now a listed building. Also listed is the garden created around it by the late Russell Page, the great, British garden designer. Some 20 years later, the apple presses were cast aside and the barn was converted to house two spare bedrooms, a summer dining room and a large changing room for the swimming pool that is hidden behind it.

The house is dominated by a deep, tiled roof and two vast chimney stacks, one at each end. The façade has two front doors side by side, an orig­inal feature to conserve internal space by providing direct entry to two reception rooms. Now, the right-hand door is no longer in use; the other leads into a new hall. It is a small space and, as you cross the threshold, you feel you are entering a sanctuary of elegance. There is abundance and restraint in the way the house is furnished, with each piece chosen for its particular place.

To the right of the hall is a drawing room over which preside busts of Henri IV and Voltaire. The walls are covered with an Indian-print French fabric, the pattern of which has been used to create a ‘cornice’ and a ‘dado’.