Elegance by Design: Restoring a French Château

Buying a derelict château in the Vendée, western France, may seem a curious move for some. But for the visionaries behind Les Trois Garçons, it’s the perfect blank canvas for their flamboyant decorative style. With the fashion and design cognoscenti flocking to their super-stylish London venues – Les Trois Garçons restaurant, Loungelover bar, and lifestyle shop Maison Trois Garçons – creators Hassan Abdullah, Stefan Karlson, and Michel Lasserre began looking further afield for their next challenge.

France, where they regularly sourced antiques, beckoned. Not until they’d searched for 18 months and visited 16 châteaux, though, did they find their dream property. “Other châteaux were either too big or too run-down, but we immediately thought this one was manageable, on a human scale, and in such a beautiful location,” says Abdullah. “We bought it on the spot, paying the asking price of €1.5 million ($1.9m).”

Restored to glory: the majestic exterior of Château de la Goujeonnerie in France's Vendée region.

Château de la Goujeonnerie, sitting in 18 acres of parkland, was built in 1872 for a local magistrate, the mayor of La Roche-sur-Yon, the Vendée’s main town. Having previously restored Azay Le Rideau, a French Renaissance château in the Loire Valley, architect Arsène Charier transferred its proportions and design, including three “floating” turrets, to the château.

When the “garçons” bought the property in 2006, it had been derelict for eight long years, presenting a refurbishment project to daunt even the boldest visionary. “The roof was leaking, windows were rotting, and the ceilings had decayed,” recalls Abdullah. “But we just took the plunge.”

We’ve respected the bones of the building while adding fresher, more modern colors and up-to-date amenities
Hassan Abdullah, Les Trois Garçons

Karlson relocated to project-manage the restoration work. All the electrics and plumbing were renewed, under-floor heating installed, and all the windows were replaced and double-glazed. Yet every update has been tackled in a spirit of reverence to its original character. “We’ve respected the bones of the building while adding fresher, more modern colors and up-to-date amenities,” says Abdullah.

Not that the project has been without drama. In 2009, the main pipe to the water tank cracked during one of the Vendée’s coldest winters. “Water poured through the building from roof to basement, soaking walls and bringing down ceilings and cornicing,” says Abdullah. “Some antiques were destroyed. Then three days later the barn caught fire, destroying the roof and bringing down beams. I was crying. I really felt like giving up.” With the help of a good insurance broker, however, the trio carried on and the project eventually got back on track.

The château now boasts two magnificent drawing rooms, a formal dining room, breakfast room, two kitchens, a library, conservatory, bar, multimedia room, steam, sauna and massage room, gym, and an 18-meter (59-foot) heated pool in the grounds. With 24 bedrooms (11 in the château, 13 in ancillary buildings), it can be rented weekly on a self-catering basis or pro rata for a minimum of three nights.

Reflective surfaces abound in the château’s elegant formal dining room, giving it a contemporary air.

Typical of Les Trois Garçons’ maximalist style, a pair of taxidermy "unicorn" heads grace the entrance hall.

One of the château’s many fireplaces provide the perfect frame for Les Trois Garçons’ collection of decorative antiques.

Rare and eccentric finds from auctions, art fairs, and antique dealers across Europe have all found a new home at Château de la Goujeonnerie.

Two of the three "garçons", Hassan Abdullah and Michel Lasserre, with their dogs outside the château.

The château’s master bedroom exudes a weighty glamour thanks to dark woods and intricate objects.

A rustic French country house charm has been retained in the breakfast room, with distressed chairs and wrought-metal ornaments.

London design trio Les Trois Garçons have transformed their extraordinary home in France's Vendée region with art, antiques, and that all-important je ne sais quoi

Abdullah’s favorite room “depends on my mood and the time of day. Sometimes it’s the salon, where the gold-leaf Cole & Son wallpaper glows warmly at night, or the ‘vasery’ – a black-lacquered room where the colorful vases just pop out at you. And I find the barn conversion’s multimedia room, with its exposed beams and stonework, very cozy. When friends stay, it turns into a disco at night.” Just what you’d expect from the three musketeers of maverick design.

Photography: Damian Russell