Lisieux, La Basse Normandie 14100

An 18th-century manor with 4, 000m of lush grounds on the Camino de Santiago pilgrims' way in Normandy's Calvados department. The manor stands on slopes on the north side of Lisieux, near the River Touques. It is nestled in a lush backdrop. The property's origins date back to the Middle Ages. It owes its name to a canon who would receive a prebend from the bishop in return for teaching the Holy Scriptures. The extensive plot of land forms a triangle where two calm roads meet. The majestic building is a single edifice that looks out at lush lawns, which extend around a driveway. The driveway leads to the manor and garage. It splits into two separate lanes that run along either side of the manor. A group of tall trees on the north side lies beyond an orchard, a vegetable patch and lawns. A thick thuja hedge encloses the grounds, ensuring absolute privacy. Beyond it, there is a semi-rural environment of green landscape that is dotted with woods and that stretches to the horizon. The manor was built in the 1780s and 1790s when forest-clearing had almost been completed in the region. It is a half-timbered construction with timber framing that is typical of architecture in the Pays d'Auge province. The main section has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor in the roof space. Oak was used for the building's framework. Cob filler was used for the spaces between the beams and then lime-rendered. This method was inexpensive during the house's period of construction. Today, it characterises the identity and charm of traditional Norman homes. The timber framing is mainly in the building's upper section, its lower section being made of brick and stone. Old tiles cover the hipped roof. A protruding section on the east side that leads out southwards was built in the same style as the rest of the house, probably after the Second World War. Its roof has a jerkinhead end and eaves. The roof also has two dormers that face, at a right angle, two dormers on the roof's east slope. On the entrance side, there are three other hipped dormers. Two brick chimney stacks rise up from the roof too. All the windows are single-glazed and have small panes. At the end of the house, an additional section adjoins the manor. It has a gable roof of old tiles with a small dormer. This extension forms a garage. It is used as a utility section and was probably originally a farm building to which the manor was added.