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A glimpse into a French château painstakingly restored by Tino Zervudachi
Layered with memories, this sprawling family home—a principally eighteenth-century chateau, with some earlier seventeenth-century and later nineteenth-century additions, in France—was inherited from the client’s grandfather. “It hadn’t been touched since the 1950s,” she says. “I chose Tino because I felt he would upgrade the house without sacrificing the spirit.”
Although the brief was to keep the big, rambling country house atmosphere and imply that little had been done, the project actually took three years. “It was a much bigger job than we expected,” says the client. “We ended up gutting the entire place.”
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Working with the architect Sebastien Desroches, Tino Zervudachi restructured the entire chateau by changing floor levels, turning a servants’ hall into a kitchen, altering the old stables into a playroom, and converting an old staff wing into more guest rooms, with dressing rooms and bathrooms, demonstrating how the concept of traditional comfort has evolved.
Occasionally, Tino encountered pleasant surprises, such as some beautiful eighteenth-century beams hidden behind several layers of later ceilings. He also had to edit the client’s grandparents’ vast collection of objects and art. “Tino did a fantastic job,” says the client. “A real skill, the rooms look like they had always been like that.” Local artisans—unused to Tino Zervudachi’s exacting standards—caused the occasional setback. However, the ever-tenacious designer succeeded and won praise from the client’s family. “Their attitude was, ‘You didn’t just improve it, you literally made it better than it was,’” she recalls.
Extracted from Tino Zervudachi: Interiors Around the World by Natasha A. Fraser, published by Flammarion, £55.
Derry Moore1/10Robert Longo’s charcoal drawing of a knight—nicknamed “the guardian of the château” by Tino— adds a contemporary edge to the antique-filled entrance hall. A nineteenth-century Dutch chandelier hangs above a seventeenth-century scagliola-topped Florentine table, while nineteenthcentury cloisonné lamps sit on nineteenth-century side tables. The newly installed flooris a classic French design made of limestone with black cabochons. “We opened up the entrance of the château by knocking down walls that had formed four rooms, in order to create a welcoming, light-filled hallway,” says Tino.
Derry Moore2/10The drawing room is painted with a layered patina in duck-egg blue color. The columned passage to the front of the house, with its arched windows and central door to the terrace, creates an inviting area for morning reading. The ceiling has been patinated with several layers of paint, creating an aged, “moss-marked” appearance.
Derry Moore3/10Looking out on the garden redesigned by French landscape designer Louis Benech, windows are curtained in a Jean Roze fabric with Indian-inspired embroidered borders designed by Tino and made by Maximiliano Modesti.
Derry Moore4/10“The original fireplace inspired the color of the library’s paneling,” Tino explains. To achieve that particular green patina, Tino commissioned Laurent Chwast, who used the eighteenth-century colle de peau de lapin technique. A pair of Bridgewater sofas by Howard Chairs are upholstered in a Pierre Frey silk velvet, and are in conversation with a nineteenth-century slipper chair in an antique striped linen, as well as a Louis XV bergère in an Andrew Martin fabric. Tino reimagined the room with the natural wood-beamed ceiling to give a sense of history. “When Tino moved an object, drawing, or a piece of furniture, it felt like they were being rediscovered and suddenly getting a new lease of life,” says the client. “We sourced this beautiful pink Oushak rug from Beauvais Carpets in New York,” adds Tino. “The brave combination of colors feels fresh and warm.”
Derry Moore5/10Tino was inspired by a visit to Chateau de Montgeoffroy thirty years earlier. “I remembered this wonderful vaulted kitchen with faux-stone stucco,” he says, which helped reimagine the room. Other details include a La Cornue range, bespoke hood and antique tomette tiles.
Derry Moore6/10In the top-floor TV room, the spectacular eighteenth-century oak roof structure is enhanced by Tino’s choice of furniture, which includes a pair of vintage Philip Arctander clam chairs, an ottoman upholstered in Le Manach’s Vache fabric, a four-seater Jean-Michel Frank-style sofa covered in Holland & Sherry’s wool flannel, and a Cindy Calicut striped carpet manufactured by Shyam Ahuja.
Derry Moore7/10A Hartley flat-weave striped carpet unifies the hallway leading into the guest rooms; Tino painted borders on the walls and ceiling to define the architectural spaces.
Derry Moore8/10A bronze owl, named Noor, by Anthon Hoornweg, was bought by the client and sits on the sill of an oeil-de-boeuf window. “The bird is the chateau’s protector,” observes the client.
Derry Moore9/10To add charm and atmosphere to the teenagers’ recreation room—formerly the stables—Tino restored the vintage basketweave light fixtures and added a billiard table. He also sourced an antique spiral staircase, bought from a Paris flea market which allows access to newly created guest rooms, and chose a bold color scheme for the painted columns. “Those arches originally defined the horse boxes,” he explains.
Derry Moore10/10The exterior of the largely eighteenth-century château has a Directoire façade, which Tino restored, adjusting the roof line and stone cornices and re-opening a blocked up window to enhance its elegance. “The château was originally covered in ivy,” says the client.
