La Malounière des Tranchandieres was rebuilt in 1714. The owner was a young man of 30 whose ship had been fitted out by his father to join an expedition to take from the Portuguese and ravage Rio de Janeiro in 1711/12. The great riches he took funded the building of the house, with its dramatic high roof and tall chimneys.

It is difficult to appreciate how large and high are doors and windows from pictures of the house. The ground floor is some 4.5 metres high to the ceiling. The rooms too, all have double doors on the ground floor, and granite stone fireplaces. An important feature of the house is the solid oak stair case, some 350 years old, which winds, nearly five feet wide, all the way up some four floors. Each tread is made of a single piece of oak and the rails, support timbers and balustrades are a magnificent.

To the east the service wing may be older in parts and contains kitchens and staff facilities. It is quite spacious but rather dwarfed by the magnificence of the 1714 country house.

The house is set in several acres of garden, much of which is lawn, and is still surrounded by its 2.3 metre high stone wall. There are outbuildings to one side. La Malounière des Tranchandieres is in two sections. The eastern service wing is not usually available for rent.

The interior is astonishing, with great timber works in the roof. The principal building has high ceilings and on the ground floor, the hall opens to a very large sitting room. This has a working fire place, underneath some decorative plasterwork from 1714. Large windows overlook the grounds. A table converts to a projector which provides, on the distant wall, television, and houses satellite, DVD, CD, videos and all other entertainment equipment. Down one wall is a copy of a large fresco showing the exploits and adventures of the original builder.

The ground floor also has a dining room, which seats 10 people and a working fireplace. There is also a salon, or living room, with table and chairs and the original pirate-style, decorated fireplace from 1714 looking just as though it came straight out of Treasure Island . There is also a small utility and, down steps from the dining room, a large kitchen. This has a table, breakfast bar and working kitchen area. It also has a working fireplace. Off it are store cupboards, boiler room and larders and further doors to the garden.

Halfway up the stairs to the first floor is a small room, built between the floors, called ‘le trehory’. This used to be inhabited by the servant who kept fires alight all night. This is now converted to a modern bathroom. Going on up the stairs the first floor has two enormous bedrooms lit up by chandeliers and fitted with stone fireplaces, both of which have modern bathrooms. Although some rooms are fully carpeted, most rooms have loose carpets, but all have great, magnificent cupboards, armoires and other good quality and interesting furniture.

The second floor has four more bedrooms, and another bathroom. A fourth bathroom up some stairs in the attic of the adjoining block. In the adjoining block it is also possible to make use of another bedroom. The house has been carefully renovated over a period of ten years and is now fitted out to meet modern French standards. There is oil-fired central heating and modern cookers and equipment; washing machine, dishwasher and dryer. The beds are all of recent purchase and designed so that they can be zipped together to provide double beds, or separated to provide twin beds.

The entrance to La Malounière is down a tree lined drive from a minor road. You turn right through the old gates into the first courtyard and the Hall Doors. Here are wells, plenty of parking space and lots of lawn. On the other side of the house is perhaps 2.5 acres of garden, the far end has family football nets. There is a barbecue, table tennis table, plenty of chairs and tables and two large terraces. All around the house are fields and woods. As the crow flies, it is only five or six kilometres from many beaches, including those at St. Benoit les Ondes, three kilometres from the Rance, eleven kilometres from the airport, eight kilometres from the ferry port, ten kilometres from the restaurants, delights and beaches of Dinard, fifteen minutes from Dinan and thirty minutes from Mont St. Michel. Although it’s easy to get around and close to beaches and other facilities, it is isolated in empty countryside.