A little history ...

THE PRESBYTERY

We bought the former presbytery in 2000.
It was built 237 years earlier, in 1763, a few years before the French Revolution. During the revolution, Ménil was the scene of live tragic events. In a region deeply committed to the values ​​of the old regime, the village is the scene, for almost ten years, of conflicts between Chouans and Republicans. Fighting and ambushes are common in the town, exactions and reprisals follow each other, the church and the presbytery are even burned by the Chouans in 1794. The presbytery did not suffer much at the time of this fire but we found the trace on the ridge beam of the frame.

The last priest left the presbytery 6 months before our arrival, to retire. The building required a year of work before we could move in with our three children: on the ground floor the living rooms and the professional office of Dominique, upstairs five bedrooms, above the attic.

2015: The children grew up, they left the nest, and we decide to transform the house to welcome them with their spouses and their own children! In fact, the changes mainly consisted of finding the dimensions of the original parts, and arranging the attic. A huge undertaking because we wanted to use whenever possible original materials and elements: terracotta tiles, fireplaces in tuffeau, oak doors, lime plaster, ...
Very quickly, we chose (when our children were not there) to open these new spaces and to share them with passing guests, thus perpetuating the tradition of welcoming of the presbyteries of the time ...
We also transformed the old carriage house into a cottage.
Today we have the immense pleasure of welcoming you all year long in two family suites (bed and breakfast near Château-Gontier), and a cottage for 4/5 people: Le Petit Vigneau.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​