My Room in the Outer Buildings

 Photos later

My Room in the Outer Buildings

My room is tucked away in one of the outer buildings of the château, and it feels wonderfully different from a conventional hotel room. It is a simple, private bedroom, with the bathroom in the room next door.

The bedroom has the unmistakable character of an old French country house. Massive, dark wooden beams cross the ceiling, including one wonderfully irregular beam that spans almost the entire width of the room. Nothing about it looks manufactured or perfectly straight. The bends, cracks, knots, and uneven surfaces of the old timber are part of its charm.

The walls are a soft pale green, while a deep red carpet and an Oriental-style rug add warmth. My single bed sits against a substantial dark wooden headboard, with a small table and lamp beside it. There are framed pictures scattered across the walls, an old wooden chair, and a few pieces of furniture that look as though they have accumulated here naturally over many years rather than being selected as part of a decorating scheme.

One of my favorite features is the window. It is deeply recessed into the thick wall, creating a broad windowsill, and heavy patterned curtains frame the old-fashioned divided panes. A wooden table sits directly in front of it, giving me a little place to sit beside the daylight. The thickness of the wall around the window is a constant reminder that this is an old building.

Then there is my bathroom next door, which has an entirely different personality. It is bright and practical, with a bathtub and handheld shower, but the wonderful decorative tilework makes it memorable. Large colorful panels above the tub and toilet depict elaborate urns overflowing with stylized flowers and foliage in blues, greens, ochres, reds, and black. A bold blue-and-white geometric border continues around the room.

It is not sleek, modern luxury, and I am glad it isn’t. Between the enormous hand-hewn beams, the thick walls, the deep-set window, the slightly eccentric collection of furnishings, and that exuberant bathroom tile, my little room feels completely at home here. It has the quirks and imperfections of an old French property, and those are precisely what give it character.


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