When Isabelle Moltzer’s parents reluctantly sold the Domaine de Bailleul in Normandy in 2011, she believed she would never return. “It was nightmarish,” she recalls. “It took two months to move everything out.” What made it particularly traumatic was that the 50-hectare property had been in the family since the mid 16th century, when its château was built by one of her ancestors, Bertrand de Bailleul (he is said to have welcomed Mary, Queen of Scots, there). “My attachment to the estate is visceral,” says Moltzer.
For years afterward, she avoided going anywhere near and deliberately made detours when passing through the region. Now, a curious twist of fate not only finds her back working at Bailleul, but also ecstatically ensconced in her childhood home— an outbuilding called La Maison Normande, or the Norman House, which she uses mainly for vacations and weekend getaways. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” she admits. “It’s like a fairy tale.”
In the role not quite of Prince Charming, but rather a benevolent benefactor, is Ranga Brossais Doliger, who acquired the domaine in 2018. The previous owner, a Russian businessman, had more or less left it abandoned. The gardens were overgrown and the outbuildings in a state of dilapidation. “It was like the castle in Beauty and the Beast,” Brossais Doliger says, insisting that he didn’t buy it to live there. He already owned another château nearby. Instead, he simply wanted to restore it to its former glory and planned to rent the outbuildings. “When I first visited, I had an uncanny feeling, as if I’d lived there in the past,” he recalls.
Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Architectural Digest US.
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Denne historien er fra April 2024-utgaven av Architectural Digest US.
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SEA CHANGE
Trading Manhattan for Brooklyn, designer Robert Stilin soaks up new scenery indoors and out
HELLA, YES
Thirty years into her career, Dutch design star Hella Jongerius proves the best ideas-and objects are those that grow and transform along with us
GREEN GODDESS
From her perch in Lloyd Wright's 1927 home and studio in West Hollywood, Vicki von Holzhausen is spreading the gospel-and refining the science—of eco-friendly, plant-based materials
BOTH SIDES NOW
Celebrated for his fantastical, genderfluid fashions, designer Harris Reed brings the same rule-flouting approach to a petite London apartment
shades of eden
In her magical LA garden, artist Mimi Lauter contemplates the cycle of life and the rapturous power of color
CHARM SCHOOL
In the hands of Ashe Leandro, a historic New York City house gets a delightful makeover
mother nature
Taking inspiration from her own childhood memories, Jennifer Garner crafts a cozy California home and garden where she and her family can put down roots
Finnish Lines
Resurfaced by Hem, a postmodern Nordic icon is back on the shelves
Changed for Good
Blending architectural styles, the new movie Wicked ventures off the beaten yellow-brick path
Earth Tone
In Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe, a new wellness resort looks to the land