The Vaucourte Domain
a family adventure
It was in 2018 that we embarked on the adventure to give a new life to Domaine de Vaucourte. It was about time, because the 200-year-old walls were starting to show signs of wear and tear, which we hardly paid attention to anymore, having been used to them for so long.
It was Yves Marchier, the Great-Grandfather of Jean-Yves, adored by his
grandchildren, who was the first to fall in love with this residence. Born in
Ardèche, of modest origins, pharmacist, chemist and inventor, he created with
his brothers a local industry in Privas, and products that he distributed as far as the United States: broth cube, candied chestnuts. Jean-Yves’ Grandmother took refuge in Vaucourte after her house was bombed during the second world war. Jean-Yves’ uncles, aunts and parents all lived there, very attached to this place and strongly involved in the life of their village. Jean-Yves spent his youth there. He saw the arrival of the bathroom, the television, and a first phase of renovation in the 70s.
Elisabeth came to Vaucourte for the first time in 1982, then for the holidays, with our children (soon to be 5) who met their cousins there. Living in a community required a bit of resourcefulness, and great adaptability, especially when 15 people had to share the single bathroom. But the house remained open and welcoming, because as the old adage goes, there will always be a solution.
Jean-Yves’ professional life has led us to move a lot, to France, England, the
USA, East Coast and West Coast. Vaucourte was our anchor point, where we
could meet up as a family. Then time passed, a generation left. In 2018
Vaucourte had been closed most of the year for 4 years, several of our children
were living abroad, we had to make a decision.
We then decided to embark on the adventure, with our children, and bought
their shares from Jean-Yves’ cousins. It was obvious that Vaucourte had to
once again become a place of life, open to others, where life is good. But to
welcome visitors, we had to embark on the adventure of the work, and deal with the problems of a 200-year-old house :
- rebuid the roofs, the pipes, deal with landslide problems at the back of the house, restore the structure of the floors which were sagging upstairs, insulate, bring up to standards,
- then create lodgings, remodel the interior spaces, rebuid the facades, develop the gardens and the swimming pool area, and little by little reoccupy the park
…
Opening our adventure with others, living in harmony with our environment
… The first phase of work was carried out with a concern for a job well done, with an architect and craftsmen from the region who are passionate about their profession. It allows us to start meeting visitors who we welcome in our lodges.
But this is only the beginning, because we want to share this place more widely, and revive it for exceptional events, by allowing teams to recharge their batteries and strengthen their ties during business seminars, and families or friends to meet in a warm place for birthdays, baptisms, or meetings with friends as part of the “Dîners du Domaine de Vaucourte”.
But for this it will be necessary to launch a new phase of work, not the least, because this time it is a question of renovating the great house,
We also want to share with our guests the surrounding nature, the park and its paths, the hills and their scents, which will also be gradually rehabilitated or returned to a state of nature. Our children are committed to this enterprise alongside us. To replace certain trees affected by drought and climate change, we have young trees in nurseries that will reach their adult size in 50 to 100 years.
By coming to Domaine de Vaucourte, you will also become a spectator and actor in this multi-generational enterprise..
