JOIE DE VIVRE
COLUMN
The intrepid châtelaine
Erin Choa realises a certain eccentricity comes with château ownership in order to deal with the vastness of estate management
W
hen we began our château search, we were invited for
lunch by a family connection who owned a sprawling 18th-century château to tell us all about the realities behind château life. We arrived in a storm, as pouring rain battered the old turrets. The châtelain answered
the door in a velvet dressing gown holding an oil lamp and declared there was a power cut with very little concern. After a tour through the
beauty of faded grandeur that took us tiptoeing through unused wings of sweeping cobwebs and open windows that had let nature slowly encroach, we sat down for lunch in a grand and freezing panelled dining-room. Lightning fl ashed through
the casement windows as the storm crescendoed and in the middle of the châtelain recounting one of his witty stories, my attention was drawn to a new growing puddle soaking through the crisp table
Daily problems pale into insignifi cance when managing a large estate
linens. Both JB and I looked up to see that rain was dripping though the ceiling rose and running down the chain of the crystal chandelier onto the table. Noticing our change of
attention, the châtelain followed the direction of our horrifi ed gaze. Without so much as a fl icker of interest, he seamlessly slid a fi ne Limoges tureen under the chandelier to collect the rainwater, continuing his stream of conversation as if this was the most normal phenomenon in the world. Perhaps there is a certain
eccentricity that arrives with château ownership that insidiously creeps upon you as daily problems pale into insignifi cance with the vastness of estate management. Some six years later and I
Traditional touches in the kitchen
was cooking for a dinner party when the mains water supply suddenly burst through a section of 19th-century pipe. Water started cascading across
110 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2025
the kitchen fl oor as I was mid-chopping carrots and JB was seasoning the meat. Our reaction was barely more than an eye-roll as we immersed ourselves in problem-solving the latest château surprise at the most inopportune moment: JB went to turn off the mains supply and dig around for pipe sections to replace the broken portion, while I hitched up my dress to avoid the velvet soaking up the fl ood, put on my wellies and continued with the preparations while standing in two inches of water. I then spent the next half an
hour baling the fl ood out of the kitchen door into the garden before our 12 guests arrived. By the time the doorbell rang, JB had fi xed the leak, the food was almost ready, everything was clean and the candles were lit so no one would have expected the last hour of château chaos had it not been for one small oversight. As I opened the door to our smartly dressed guests, all
No sign of château chaos here!
it took was a tiny downward glance towards my feet and their look of surprise for me to register that I was still wearing wellies with my velvet dress hitched up in my knickers. It was in that moment that
I realised that our guests were having the same refl ection about me that I had had years before when we fi rst visited that château and we denounced the châtelain as a complete eccentric. I can’t tell if eccentricity
is latent and awakened by château life or whether little by little it slowly shapes us. Either way, every châtelain worth their salt knows that no château problem stops a good lunch or dinner party! ■
London-born hospital doctor Erin Choa is the 6th châtelaine of Château de Bourneau, where she lives with her French fi ancé Jean-Baptiste and bossy cat HRH Oscar. She blogs about their château-life on Instagram @theintrepidchatelaine @chateaudebourneau
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