WITH A MAKEOVER by the grande dame of chintz, Laura Ashley, and no less than 20 bedrooms, this 18th century château near Amiens in northern France offers the French fantasy on a grand scale, but its US owners are happy to trade it all for a home in Blackrock, Co Dublin.
As fairytale French properties go, Château de Remaisnil in Normandy ticks all the boxes: set on 35 acres, it has opulent accommodation, French gardens, English lawns, tennis courts, a dovecote, swimming pool and underground tunnels.
And if that's not enough the house is a monument to former owner Laura Ashley and the style she inspired.
The queen of damask drapery bought the property in the late 1970s and transformed it into a grand home which provided a suitable setting for the Ashley family's rags-to-riches tale.
Château de Remaisnil has changed hands three times since Ashley's untimely death in 1985. Current owners Terri and Charles Carroll purchased the house in 2003 and have operated it as a luxury guest-house since then.
Guests paid around €250 a night for the chance to sleep in elegant four-poster beds and dine in sumptuous Louis XVI salons. The Laura Ashley brand and the nearby second World War battlefields are also a big draw for guests.
The Carrolls, who in a previous life ran hotels in the US, are now selling up and retiring to Ireland, which has been their second home since the 1970s.
The couple's children were educated in Ireland and the Carrolls own two houses here - one in Blackrock and a second in Dunmore East.
Built by Theodore-Lamoral-Joseph de la Porte, in about 1760, the Château de Remaisnil has connections with the Butlers of Kilkenny, according to Terri.
In the eight years the Ashleys lived in Normandy, the house served as a virtual company HQ and Laura experimented by decorating and redecorating.
Despite a number of renovations much of Ashley's influence remains, including all the curtains and most wall coverings, according to Terri.
Even though we think as Laura Ashley as "country cottage design", in Château de Remaisnil it is all "very big and grand", she says.
Accommodation at the château is on a vast scale. The ground floor has two livingrooms, two diningrooms, a kitchen and library. Upstairs there are 11 ornate bedrooms all with en suite bathrooms.
Extensive outbuildings have been converted and now contain nine bedrooms with en suites, a billiards room, a bar, and kitchen.
These buildings are connected to the main house via an underground tunnel decorated with Parisian tube station tiles.
The nearest town is Amiens. The Eurotunnel is 90 minutes away and Lille an hour's drive.
Château de Remaisnil is for sale through Knight Frank for a modest €3.5 million.
• www.knightfrank.ie
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