French Château
Frog and Simon Michaels’ sensitive renovation project breathed new life into this 16th-century French manor house, restoring it to its former glory
Frog Michaels describes the moment she first saw La Fuye, now her holiday home, as ‘un coup de foudre’ – like a bolt of lightening, it was love at first sight. ‘France was our go-to for holidays and we always wanted to buy a home there,’ she says. ‘On the last day of one holiday, before we went back to our home in Singapore, we spotted this property up for sale and decided to go and see it. We drove up the lime tree-lined approach - the leaves were out, making a tunnel effect - and it felt like a magical place. I just looked at Simon – we hadn’t even seen the house yet – and said: “Oh my goodness, let’s buy it”. So we did. You could just see the house peeking through the gates and it felt amazing, it was like we had stumbled upon a hidden gem.’
The couple bought the house thinking that it didn’t need much work, apart from decorating. ‘Then we came in from the fields in boots caked in mud and thought, “where’s the boot room?”, ’ says Frog. ‘We were hiding wellies under the sofas and shoving them in the dining room, so the instigation for doing a quite expensive renovation was that I really needed a boot room.’
It soon became apparent, however, how much more work needed to be done. Nothing happened for a year because the couple were unable to find a suitable architect, but once work began, the house was rewired and replumbed and work started on creating Frog’s boot room. ‘The château ended with a false wall and behind it, was another door that led to the base of the tower where there was a rudimentary laundry. We employed an ar
