Art de vivre | Lifestyle
Le domaine des Aubineaux. 1872
Construite en ébène et en colophane, la maison de
la famille Guimbeau, qui l’a habitée jusqu’en 1999,
comprend 28 pièces et 117 fenêtres donnant sur un
jardin de 17 hectares. Fait rare pour une maison
coloniale, elle dispose d’un couloir et de toilettes à
l’intérieur et fut la première à avoir l’électricité !
On peut y admirer des meubles d’époque, des objets
anciens et les portraits des aïeux.
Built in ebony and rosin, home to the Guimbeau
family who lived there until 1999, the house has
28 rooms and 117 windows overlooking a garden
of 17 hectares. Quite unusual for a colonial
mansion, it has a corridor and internal bathrooms,
and it was the first to have electrical power!
You can admire the period furniture, the antiques
and portraits of the Guimbeau family through
the years.
planters are set out for conversation, for
drinking tea and relaxing after a day’s work.
Often circular, these galleries are dressed
with columns and wrought-iron railings in
the style of the colonial dwellings of South
Carolina. Some owners added a canopy that
conferred even more prestige to the house,
and allowed them to welcome their guests
from the top of a flight of steps. The floor,
a mosaic of two-tone tiles, brings a touch
of colour to the building, and glistens in
the play of shadows and shimmering lights,
from dawn till dusk.
The houses are large and spacious, and
usually have two floors. The reception
rooms with their sumptuous floors are
designed to accommodate numerous
guests, and they look out over the gardens,
either formally designed à la française, or
lushly stocked with indigenous plants and
ancient trees. Kitchens and water closets are
usually built away from the main body of
the house.
Each of these grandes dames has a touch of
coquetry about her, for each one has very
much her own identity, with her individual
mix of decorative and multicultural styles
of her time. Gables and turrets may nestle
on the roof; the friezes along the terraces
and on the canopies are picked out with
lacy arabesque patterns; the cornices are
adorned with valances; and the wrought
iron balustrades were obviously a total
delight for the artisans... While bow
windows and winter verandas, inspired
by the English fashion, bring a touch
of folly to the more sober French style.
All the artisanal craftsmen - carpenter,
stonemason, bricklayer, founder,
blacksmith, cabinetmaker, ironworker,
tinsmith – put the best of their skills at the
service of these great – and stylish