moving to the country - chapsal france

have you ever had the experience of going to a place you've never been before and feeling really and truly like its home? that was my experience in this little country village buried deep in the heart of france, this village of chapsal, in this house of julliard - right at home, and from the pictures below you'll probably see why!

this house is at least 300 years old but it has belonged to the family of my friend for so long that no one really has any idea when exactly it was built - but they do know that at least 8 generations have been on this ground - how romantic is that! there is the big house, and the one i will be focusing on in this post, but there are also multiple out-buildings including a bread oven and the petite maison (little house, where my friends 93 yo aunt lives) and another house in the middle of construction (an old structure with a new roof and guts).

a giant fire place that dominate the first floor - its so big that there are actually chairs inside where you can sit! its so cozy and you would also imagine a necessity in a house this old in a climate that gets snow at in the winter - cant you just picture all the gatherings, activities, dinner parties that would take place in front of this magnificent focal point! and the paneling around it just to give it a bit of added rustic detail -

i tried really hard to get a picture of the fabulously modern light fixture that seems more than at home in its rustic setting - its sooooo great - mounted on the corner of the colossal bookshelf it provides lighting for the living room and eating nook- note the totally great and untraditional use of fabrics on the furniture too! i love it - its sleek and super chic and manages to tie everything together - just the way the mod. chairs did at the beach house - im working to find out the designer of this lamp - ill keep you updated on what i find out - an im so sorry i couldnt get a better picture - but maybe ill find a great product shot somewhere instead -
and how amazing are the benches at the old farm table - all smooth and shined from years and years of bums sitting there! i think this table and benches were my favorite part of any of the houses - its totally what i want for my kitchen someday!!

the bread oven - which was used a few weekends before for a bread festival in the village - imagine all the loves of bread made in here - its huge inside and would make any us wood-fired pizza place so jealous!
below i just included a few shots of the outside of the house and grounds around it - and the neighbor anthoni and his pooch bandi!!