The luxurious property market has seen no scarcity of celebrity-owned houses in recent times, however few can boast a notable historical past of householders that connects French cinema, luxurious style and European royalty fairly just like the Manoir du Mée. Positioned within the village of Le Mée-sur-Seine — lower than an hour exterior Paris — the 18th-century property has been listed for USD 3.2 million (roughly EUR 2.7 million).
Historical past of Excessive-Profile Possession
In-built 1749 — 4 a long time earlier than the French Revolution — the property spans roughly 500 sq. metres throughout 1.25 acres of landscaped grounds. Earlier than its style and royal associations, Manoir du Mée was additionally linked to French cinema by former proprietor Renée Saint-Cyr — the actress recognized for her prolific movie profession throughout the Thirties and post-war period. Karl Lagerfeld acquired Manoir du Mée in 1986, through the early years of his tenure as inventive director of Chanel.
On the time, he was concurrently overseeing Fendi and his personal eponymous label, whereas reshaping Chanel into one among style’s most commercially highly effective homes. Not like his famously trendy Paris house, the manor functioned extra as a lived-in inventive retreat. For over a decade, Lagerfeld utilised the 1.25-acre grounds as a useful extension of his work. The gardens served because the backdrop for Chanel style campaigns that includes supermodels comparable to Inès de la Fressange and Tatjana Patitz.
In 1998, Lagerfeld bought the property to Prince Ernst August of Hanover, later husband to Princess Caroline of Monaco. The Monaco royal household would go on to occupy the property for a number of years, with experiences indicating the household lived there between 2004 and 2010. Parts of that interval stay preserved inside the home, together with drawings by Charlotte Casiraghi that reportedly nonetheless stay on the partitions of an upstairs bed room.
Property Specs and Architectural Element
Architecturally, the manor retains lots of its authentic 18th-century particulars. Commissioned in 1749 by the Faguier household, the mansion is a main instance of traditional French structure. The primary residence covers 500 sq. metres and retains authentic Versailles type parts, together with ornate wall mouldings, fireplaces and Versailles parquet flooring — a selected interlocking woodwork sample initially designed for the Palace of Versailles. The seven-bedroom principal residence was designed round symmetry and proportion, reflecting classical French architectural ideas of the interval.
The format consists of seven bedrooms, every designed with its personal dressing room and loo. Social areas have been supposed to perform like a non-public membership, that includes a library lounge, a gaming room and a built-in bar. Further buildings on the property embody a 2,000-square-foot visitor home with a vaulted wine cellar within the basement. A nine-car storage additionally sits inside the gated grounds.
The interiors transfer between formal entertaining areas and extra intimate home rooms. A big kitchen opens into eating and reception areas, whereas a wood-panelled bar, gaming room and library lounge contribute to what itemizing brokers have described because the environment of a non-public members’ membership. Every bed room consists of its personal dressing room and en-suite toilet.
Market Context
The comparatively modest asking value has attracted specific consideration given the property’s provenance and proximity to Paris. By comparability, Lagerfeld’s Quai Voltaire house overlooking the Seine bought for about EUR 10 million in 2024, almost double its authentic estimate. The present nameless proprietor — who bought the property from the Monaco royals in 2014 — has targeted on preserving the property’s 18th-century authenticity somewhat than modernising the historic format.
The itemizing is at present managed by the true property company Alexis Feyfant of Plya Paris.
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