The recently restored Château de Môh captures the languid luxury of the French countryside.
It is lunchtime on a freezing January day when I arrive at the Château de Môh. Moments after stopping at the estate – a restored 15th-century chateau overlooking the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers in the village of Candes-Saint-Martin – I am seated at a long farmhouse table next to a crackling fire. A French still life presents itself to me: local cheeses, a crusty loaf of bread, a salad from the castle’s vegetable garden and a bottle of Cabernet Franc from a nearby vineyard. It’s as if this chateau, with its old wooden beams and weathered stone walls, is a country idyll created just for me – and that’s precisely the point.
Former summer residence of the Bishops of Tours, Chateau de Môh was uninhabited when French hoteliers Monique and Didier Pignet stumbled upon it nearly a decade ago while visiting friends in the Loire Valley . The couple were heading towards retirement, a project that the castle quickly put on the back burner. “What are we going to do with a CastleMonique remembers asking her husband, although she admits she fell in love with the ‘soul’ of the place. talented and son of the previous owner, so in 2009 they bought the chateau and embarked on a 7-year restoration that involved over 100 local artisans.
Completed this year, Château de Môh is the newest property in Les Pignets’ collection of private rentals across the French-speaking world, which includes 15 villas on the Caribbean island of St. Barths and six chalets in the region’s snowy woods. of Charlevoix in Quebec. Unique among the group, the chateau consists of the chateau of seven suites, a tower for private dining experiences, a pool house and spa, a venue for weddings and other events, and 11 apartments, houses and suites adjacent to the castle. The estate, which can be purchased or rented outbuildings for two to six people, is still under the supervision of Katchatouroff, whose attachment is deep. “I like this castle because it exists on a human scale,” he says.
The intimate scale of the property owes in part to Monique, who herself led the interior design, filling the chateau with contemporary amenities and art installations that coexist harmoniously with age-old elements. Its design also embraces the outdoors, with large windows that overlook the storybook landscape. “The castle is like a big tree that clings to the village and the river below,” she says.
A hub of activity from May to September, this part of the Loire Valley is home to several of France’s great chateaux, including Chateau de Chinon, Chateau de Saumur and Chateau de Montsoreau, which reopened in April as a Museum of Modern Art. You can also visit Michelin-starred restaurants and antique fairs in local villages, and sample vintages at estates such as Domaine de la Paleine, which hosts sublime wine-tasting floats on the Loire. Whatever the activity, Les Pignets hope to provide an experience that is both luxurious and uncomplicated, capturing the essence of the Loire Valley and the hearts of their guests.
moh castle, 02.47.58.88.88, chateaudecandes.net
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