Studio Apartment in Chateau for Rent in Ocquerre, Seine-Et-Marne, France

Chateau Apartment on 40-Acre Country Estate Near Paris

Beautiful, Genuine CHATEAU Apartment on Lovely Estate, Close to PARIS. Please scroll to the bottom of the page for photos.

A perfect pied-a-terre in an 1864 chateau 1/2 hour from Paris and on a magnificent 17th-century estate for you to enjoy anytime you feel like it--at an amazingly low cost.

This offer is for a studio apartment (and its Toyota Camry, if you like) in a beautifully maintained 40-acre chateau estate to use as a second home only--a perfect pied-a-terre with easy access to Paris, but with the beauty and tranquility of an ancient rural estate and chateau. You use the estate as well as the apartment all year as your own, staying there for any 182 days of the year you choose. You can leave your things there all year since no one else will use it.

Shorter full-time rentals also are available for now. The shortest full-time rental available would be for four months at 750 euros/month. Six months would be 650 euros/month.

Many chateaux have fields right up to the front door, but this one is just as it was when it was the vacation retreat of a count, right up to 1998--a genuine chateau. The estate has its ancient walls, its beautifully landscaped gardens, its orchard, linden allee, chestnut allee, perfectly maintained terraces and patios, ornamental pools and fountain, miles-long views (and it is illegal to convert the surrounding rural area into apartment developments so the views will always be there), cellar oubliette (prison), pigeon cote, ecurie (stables), orangerie, towers, chapel, dry moat--and many more unbelievable ancient features in perfect condition for your pleasure and wonder. Modern amenities are not lacking--heated swimming pool, tennis court, outdoor furniture provided, optional telephone and Internet and cable-TV hook-ups (and possibility of shared wireless Internet), all features beautifully maintained by the condominium. The climate is mild--warmer in winter and cooler in summer than the middle Atlantic USA where I live. You have birdsong throughout the day, silence at night, starry skies, and clear air. And regulations ensure that the agricultural/rural nature of the area cannot be changed. France's excellent and almost-free health care system takes care of you and France's excellent food and wine surround you--at the low prices you find outside Paris. This chateau on its hilltop is another, better, world--a perfect restful retreat and an escape to beauty and pleasure. Please make yourself at home on the terrace at sunset and enjoy the infinite view with some fresh bread, local brie, and a glass of wine within easy reach....

The studio has authentic antique features--classic high ceilings, antique hand-made cabinet doors, beautiful proportions, a tall shuttered window, antique French oak dining furniture, French oak flooring, miles-long views from the chateau's ornamental pond and 17th-century buildings to countryside vistas of horses, and furniture that belonged to the count--a genuine chateau experience. All these features are superbly maintained, and the kitchen and full bath are renovated modern practical spaces. The studio blends modern comfort with genuine antique beauty. The photos at the bottom of the page are of the studio and of some of the shared areas of the estate.

The studio is fully renovated, heated, furnished, and very comfortable, with a ceramic tile bathroom (with toilet, sink, and shower); tiled kitchenette with coffee maker, refrigerator, oven, microwave oven, and a second full kitchen elsewhere in the chateau at your disposal; double-bed sofa with birch slats that's more comfortable than my high-end bed at home was (I replaced it with the same kind of bed); also an Aerobed plus a foam hassock-bed; two cushioned wicker chairs; antique French-oak dining table & 4 chairs; plates, tableware, table linens, pots and pans, kitchen utensils & appliances; kitchen, bed, and bath linens; and everything you need for cooking and dining except the food.


This offer is for rental for 182 days of your choice throughout the year--like a half-year timeshare, except no one else would use the studio. You could leave your things there and be the virtual owner. A sick family member prevents me from getting there, but I'd rather rent it than sell it. But I would rather not rent it for use every day of the year, year-round.

The complex was built in the 1600's. In 1864, the chateau itself was razed and replaced by a new building. Stables, orangerie, and other outbuildings from the 17th century are still in use.

The 16-hectare (about 40 acres) grounds include beautiful old stone work and elaborate antique wrought-iron gates, a long allee of tall ancient plane trees and another of chestnut trees, other huge ancient trees and structures, ornamental pond, herb garden, rose garden, garden with espaliered fruit trees, mature orchard (enjoy the fresh fruit), small forest, greenhouse (glass house; its ornate iron roof is below), cobbled courtyards, tennis court, heated swimming pool, and other unexpected good things.

Co-owners and renters have free use of the estate and its features, including the petit salon, stone cellars, and other shared areas in the chateau itself, where the studio apartment is on the 2nd floor. The chateau is never crowded--there are only 15 apartments, and 14 are vacation homes. Your neighbors are terrific and most speak English. The caretakers (a former policeman & his family) speak French and English and are happy to help you in any way.

The shared stone cellars include a kitchen with fireplace and refrigerator/ freezer, and coin-operated washer & dryer.

Not so incidentally, you will have access to France's excellent medical care system. Our visit to an excellent English-speaking doctor was about 23 euros and our prescription cost about 8 euros.

The area abounds with quiet walkable and bikeable roads, horses to ride, music and art performed in ancient buildings, restaurants, beautiful old structures, and river and canal vistas and activities, and you can enjoy Paris while staying in a beautiful, restful haven, 45 minutes from Paris by train and 30 minutes by car. Easiest is to park a car at Meaux or Trilport and take hourly trains in and out of Paris from about 5am to about 1 am. Nearly free is the 1.60 euro bus from the local village to, e.g., Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Or walk or bike whenever you feel like it to the station at Lizy, 1.8 miles away. Lizy has the shops you'd expect in France--great bakeries with fresh bread twice a day, butcher, etc., and also a supermarche with everything you possibly could need--food, wine, maps, even clothes,.... The supermarche has amazingly good refrigerated (not frozen) dinners we've seen only in France, offered by the great French chefs. So you don't have to cook OR go out to eat well. The local restaurants are terrific--some on gardens, some on rivers, some on both--and their prices are much lower than in Paris--most charge €12 for a 3-course meal with wine. You can walk to several of these.

The nearby town of Lizy-sur-Ourcq has its quaint and lovely center with everything you'd hope for (and at provincial prices). A quaint canal and the lovely river banks and swans of the Ourcq are here.

Also in Lizy are a great cheap gas station, outlet store, and supermarche with everything from local wines, cheeses, and other farm produce to non-food items and everything you could need or want. The quality is excellent (but taste the bakery in Lizy's bread) and the prices are low. Horses can be rented nearby, too. Cars can be rented for 100 euros/week from a friend of ours.

Transportation

Driving in France couldn’t be easier. You just have to remember that stop signs and stop lights are set on the near side of the cross street, rather than the far side as in the US. Roundabouts with signs point you to any town and any direction, and if you’re not sure, you can go around again. Gas is expensive but most cars get good mileage.

The Lizy-sur-Ourcq train station is about 3 km or 1.8 miles from the chateau, an easy walk, a bus ride from the gate, or a quick taxi ride. A bigger train station is at Meaux, about 10 km or 6 miles away. From Paris, Lizy is about 45 minutes by train.

To enjoy Paris from the chateau, you can use the 1.60 euro bus, the Toyota that can go with the apartment, the chateau caretakers' own taxi and delivery service, public taxi, the public bus that stops at the gate, or walk to the station at Lizy and return from Paris around 8 at night, when the last train leaves Paris’ Gare de l’Est for Lizy. To stay later in Paris, you can park or arrange pick-up at the Meaux or Trilport station and take hourly trains in and out of Paris from around 5 am to about 1 am.

We reach the chateau from Charles de Gaulle airport (CDG) by car in about half an hour on ordinary quiet roads. The N2, N3, and other major highways, go directly into Paris from near the chateau. We also take the 67 bus from CDG for 1.60 euros to and from Lizy, and we used to take the train to Lizy--more costly.

At the Chateau

There are beautiful grounds to explore and relax in--pull out one of the lounge chairs provided and enjoy. Have your lunch outside in the cobbled courtyard or on the chateau terrace. The chateau offers a heated pool by an ancient wall, tennis court also backed by an ancient wall, landscaped pond and grounds, small forest, moat (with grass, not water), glass greenhouse, vast pleasure gardens, mature orchard, many quiet roads for walking or bicycling (some with almost no cars at all). Guests also are welcome to share the ancient kitchen in the cellar, with its fireplace plus modern stove and refrigerator/freezer. Shared coin-op laundry also is in the cellar.

The caretaker lives in a lovely old house on site. The site offers clean air, quiet with birdsong, peaceful farms nearby, skies brilliant at night from stars rather than street lights, days full of birdsong--beauty and history with total comfort.

About 1.8 miles away, the town of Lizy provides all the pleasures of French towns: wonderful food in lovely ambiance at low prices, shopping of every kind, picturesque and beautiful vistas of fields river and canal, friendly and charming people. Nearby towns offer river-front dining and every other pleasure.

About 6 miles away, the city of Meaux offers the stately Marne River, ancient building, beautiful cityscapes, movies, shopping, restaurants, etc. Meaux' old-fashioned weekly market yields a cornucopia of treasures, culinary and otherwise.

And Paris! Paris is an easy ride away by bus, train, or car, and the Lizy train station has a taxi stand.

You're also within easy reach of 14 golf courses, the Champagne region (where you can taste as well as explore; 1/2 hour away), a pedagogic farm that welcomes visitors, Eurodisney (20 minutes), not to mention Versailles, Fontainebleau, Vincennes, Saint-Germaine-en-Laye, La Malmaison, Courson, Vaux-le-Vicomte, the race course at Chantilly--the Romans were here, too, leaving 2nd Century aqueducts and amphiteaters. There are too many beautiful places to explore--enough for a lifetime.


The apartment is completely furnished, with bed, bath, and kitchen linens, pillows, mattress cover, comforter; pots, pans, coffeemaker, utensils, microwave that also browns; tableware--just unlock the door and make yourself at home. There's a double convertible bed, a double Aerobed, and a single foam mattress (a hassock-bed)--room for 5 to sleep--but best for one person or a couple.

Please e-mail me for more photos and information.

PHOTOS: The studio is in the chateau (first photo). Other apartments are in the 17th-century stables or orangerie (shown), some of the lovely 17th-century buildings on the estate. Other photos show the swimming pool, the studio itself, a doe and her fawns among the huge old trees on the estate, a sunrise view from the studio window... Beautiful discoveries from nature and from the 17th century abound on this rare treasure of an estate. All the residents (and few are there at a time--it's not like a crowded hotel) and the caretaker speak English, and the caretaker is happy to provide food delivery and taxi service and bicycle rental.