New French Chateau offered at $9,450,000

Narrative

Chateau d'Avignon Chateau d'Avignon is a proud and formal estate setting that speaks of your good taste and the property's refined amenities. This home sets itself apart from neighboring country French styling by interpreting the architecture and detailing from a more formal Paris style. With inspiration from the Versailles Palace, each detail speaks of a gracious lifestyle that at once is both grand and livable. Driving onto the Versailles patterned circular drive with its beautiful central fountain, and lush landscaping and up to the carriage house doors, you are welcomed home. The balustraded formal entry stands warmly but majestically, with its high-arched transomed doors flanked by cast limestone columns and tumbled travertine walk. The commanding presence of this home is achieved with a mansard roof punctuated with arched dormer windows on the second floor and beautiful ironwork balconies. Upon entering this three-level home you are greeted with an inviting two-story foyer graced with a sweeping travertine staircase and handsomely ornamented chandelier. Flooring details in the granite mosaic medallion and granite mosaic borders create a plush ambiance and frame the individually handcrafted columns that command your view upward to the second floor gallery. Your imagination will soar with dreams of the extravagant entertaining this home has to offer. As you step across the foyer you are greeted with a pair of hidden niches that are perfectly suited for displaying your style-setting treasures. Beyond lays the living room and its adjoining gallery promenade that shares the two-story space with the foyer. Handsome French cornice mouldings top this coffered ceiling and provide a remarkable grand vista of columns and arches. Each gallery's coffered ceiling offers highly detailed luxurious pendant fixtures to guide your way. On the main floor your way is lighted to the butler's pantry in rich mahogany-stained maple with a marble top and plenty of storage. To the left is the formal dining room set off with all the details that will make every dinner an event. The double-tiered oval ceiling with its French style mouldings, the twin niches resting upon the elegant wainscoted walls, and the marvelous flooring details make strong style statements. To the right of the butler's pantry lays the chef's kitchen complete with Thermador appliances and state-of-the-art amenities. Warming drawer, wine cooler, dual dishwashers make preparing meals convenient. The large granite topped island will be your complete workstation while the adjoining marble countertops spread an unmistakable elegance all around the room. Twin chandeliers are supported by a coffered ceiling treatment and the look of hand-scraped maple flooring adds a traditional old-world charm. The family room supports a built-in surround sound system that’s ready for action. Viewed through the French doors are the travertine covered patios, the pool and graceful guest house. The light-filled and cheery breakfast area shares this space with ample outdoor views. Adjacent to the kitchen and family room are the mud-room consisting of a half-bath and a laundry with a specially created space for the family pet to “wash up” before dinner. Easing up the rear staircase from the mud room and you are presented with the upper level gallery resplendent with beautifully detailed pendant lighting hanging from the coffered ceiling. To your immediate right and left are on-suite bedrooms: the first is positioned to take advantage of the roofing architecture lending a doll-house quality to this space and one that would perfectly suit a new-born or a fanciful young lady. It comes with a charming furniture style vanity and a shower/tub; the second is perfect for a teenager with plenty of wall space for self-expression and a more casually styled bath with shower. This bedroom also has a small balcony overlooking the back terraces. As we return to the gallery toward the master suite, it is apparent how this bridge space lifts your spirit and asks you pause and absorb your surroundings. At this level you can study more closely the attention to detail that was designed into Chateau d’ Avignon. Everything fits into its space quietly and elegantly, from the coved and tiered foyer ceiling and its large tiered chandelier that operates with a power lift system to the towering grace colonnaded French doors and the cast-limestone mantle in the living room. The master suite offers a central chandelier, warm cozy fire, and softly shaded sconces to help you ease the day’s burdens and relax. The splendid view from the balcony is a comfort to be enjoyed with a cup of coffee with the sunrise or a glass of Viognier with the sunset. With plenty of area available for bedroom furniture and fireside seating this room captures romance and retreat. The master bath serves two comfortably, with separate vanities and a resplendent marble floor with inlaid tile and stone wainscoting on the walls. The whirlpool bath will sooth the soul while the marble shower has space for two. Twin walk-in closets will handle your wardrobes with ease and with the addition of a closet system you will have a completely custom dressing room. Let’s return to the gallery and continue down the gracious curved staircase and across the foyer to the main powder room. Covered with in faux damask wallpaper, the wainscoted walls boast a French white vanity and twin jeweled sconces lends the perfect combination of contemporary formality to this guest space. The commode resides opposite a gothic arched doorway that lifts to the chandelier. Outside of this powder room is the demi-foyer that introduces the library with its warm wood columns and hand-scraped flooring. This remarkable space is a light-filled and awaiting your business and library needs. Wall space devoted to books includes the custom designed cabinetry with brass-mesh detailing in the doors and plenty of shelf space. The coffered ceiling offers another beautiful chandelier with additional recessed lighting to brighten your evening study. Passing through the library to the main floor gallery, the second master suite beckons us. A pair of French doors leads out to a small terrace that joins with the rest of the pool area. Inside this master suite holds one walk-in closet and another auxiliary closet. The carpeted flooring provides quiet and the chandelier provides sparkle. The on-suite bath is a nod to French deco modernity with beautifully patterned stone mosaic wall designs and a large dual vanity in cream with a white granite top. Adding to this ambiance is the exposed chrome plumbing fixtures for the shower and for the uniquely modern “claw-foot” tub. The “next level” is both a place and an apt description of the lower floor. Taking the curved hardwood staircase down past the large lighted niche you are presented with the great room. Designed to entertain guests at the luxurious curved bar overlooking the flat screen television, this room will also welcome a fine wine tasting party with its temperature controlled wine room—ready to be outfitted with your preferred wine cabinetry. Each vista—from the mosaic the inlay on the flooring to the stately columns up to the lavish mouldings crowning each room—provides all of the wow factor that will make this “the next level” in entertaining. The great room also acts as host to the garden patio lightwell that welcomes you with beautiful greenery and a fountain. This area will provide excellent outdoor opportunities to dine or relax in the sun with family, friends and guests. In the central area of this level is the colonnaded exercise area wired for twin flat screen televisions. This area will double as a ballroom or meeting space. Just outside the French doors is an oval lightwell beckoning you with its lush greenery and quiet sitting space. Two on-suite bedrooms grace this level, each with its own lightwell, one with exterior access. Each bath enjoys a corner shower, a furniture styled vanity with granite top and custom tile. Strolling along the main gallery, lit with simple pendants, we are reminded of colonnaded garden. The powder room, two mechanical rooms access this gallery as well as the bedrooms. Walking straight ahead we are presented with lovely niche cabinetry set off with granite and columns that will provide excellent display space for your sports enthusiast. At the end of the gallery is the laundry room with ample storage and a sink with folding area. Next to this are two spaces guaranteed to delight the health conscious home owner. The first is the built in dry sauna fully enclosed in teak, and the second is the changing room that will allow you and your family and guests to freshen up within masterful contemporary design of mosaic glass, travertine and Porcelanosa wood tile. As we retrace our steps and walk back to the gallery, moving left we find a second matching niche outfitted with richly stained maple cabinetry and matching columns as we continue to our final interior destination: the theater. With seating space for 10 to 12 persons, this space is wired and ready to accept your final design decisions to create the movie experience of your dreams. The terraced flooring provides elevated seating rows and the surround sound system is already hidden in the walls and ceiling. To the front, your large format screen is part of the cabinetry that already exists to hold your front and center speakers as well as a small stage area with steps to the left and right. We at KAL Design Group and JGHellmuth Interior Design believe that our creation is a unique statement of style and taste that the discriminating home buyer will take seriously.