Innehållsförteckning för French Cottage 2024 från Victoria

Dear Friends Storybook charm abounds in this edition of French Cottage, offering inspiration for creating a romantic home. Within the showcased dwellings, exquisite mouldings call attention to stunning architectural details, from curving staircases to soaring windows. Within well-appointed rooms, furnishings add whispers of softness—the graceful drape of a canopy unfurling over an antique bed, billows of French ticking framing peaceful garden views, the revival of centuries-old seating with new upholstery in a favored print. And, of course, toile de Jouy adds loveliness wherever a variation of the iconic pattern is placed. These beautiful spaces set the scene for telling a family’s tale. In “Dreaming in Petals” on page 79, alabaster interiors serve as an ethereal backdrop for nestling carefree floral arrangements amid cherished brocante finds. As if influenced by its…

The tale of Château Moissac de Bellevue—constructed centuries ago overlooking the idyllic villages of Haut Var—continues today, with thanks to an impassioned pair who were determined to preserve its story. Originally built for a wealthy Provençal family, the private home sold in1785 to Edouard Laurent de Coriolis, then advisor to King Louis XVI, and passed down through generations of his descendants before being abandoned. Over more than twenty years of neglect, the château was plundered and fell into disrepair. Three decades ago, when a couple looking for a small countryside getaway discovered the property and arranged a visit, both awakened the next morning determined to return the dwelling to its former glory. This was an ambitious undertaking, as the château had been left to ruin. Many doors and windows were…

Anna and Dirk de Glee’s cottage in Venhuizen, North Holland, peeks out from beneath a cascading profusion of snowy climbing roses. When they first saw the home, the pair were immediately captivated by its fairy-tale appearance, with the red-tile roof offering a vibrant counterpoint to the whitewashed brick façade. A tour of the interiors proved less enchanting. “It was a bit dark, paneled with outdated wooden laths,” explains Anna. “It just wasn’t our taste, but it did have a good atmosphere. We knew right away we could make this our home.” Fortunately, the house, which dates to 1840, was in reasonably good condition, so the de Glees setabout restoring the authentic Dutch elements that had been lost throughout the years as well as introducing their own preferences for French and…

Few people are blessed to live in the same beloved home for all of their lives, but Marianna can count herself as one of the fortunate souls. Built in 1905 on the foundations of the first headquarters of the renowned Bormioli glassworks, the dwelling sits in the center of Parma, Italy, though it belies its urban setting with vistas overlooking Maria Luigia’s beautiful Ducal Park and the scenic Parma stream. These rooms of her youth are now shared with her husband and daughters. When Marianna began a renovation on these living quarters, she channeled childhood memories of her paternal aunt’s charming mountainside residence. “I brought to our house the taste I would have reserved for a country home,” she explains. She also wished to enhance the interiors’ potential and character…

The first question Frances Jaarsma asked when inquiring about Le Presbytère was whether the house had a view. “Madame,” the previous owner answered her, “I had been looking for such a place myself for many years when I finally found this house—it has a spectacular view.” With that, Frances and her husband, Win, whisked themselves off to Burgundy to see it for themselves. The sight of rolling green meadows separated by blackberry hedges and speckled with oak trees reminded Frances of romantic literary settings, and the pair bought the place that same afternoon. Le Presbytère was built as a rectory in the nineteenth century, with the formal style of a maison de maître. Its slate roof covers a two-story façade, with large windows and French doors flanked by wooden shutters.…

When one thinks of Burgundy, the immediate impression is of its thriving vineyards brimming with dew-kissed grapes, but the famed French region is also the site of the vast Morvan Regional Natural Park, where scenic forests, rivers, and lakes are home to a collage of wildlife, including herds of hardy Charolais cows, indigenous to this part of France. Though they enjoyed living in Indonesia, Dutch expatriates Leuntje and Douwe Spil Spier longed for a break from the constant commotion of city life. While on a sojourn to their home continent, they visited Douwe’s sister and her husband—artists who had found the unspoiled vistas of the Morvan the ideal spot to create and teach. Leuntje and Douwe were so taken with this picturesque place, they purchased a small dwelling set in…