There is something very liberating about making a fresh start, but you have to be brave to take on a faded old French tower and priory with a roof that is about to collapse.
Paula Dormer rolled up her sleeves and accepted the challenge. She relished the change of scene, even though the tiny village deep in the countryside of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwest France, isn’t where she originally intended to make her home.
‘I planned to buy a house near my cousin in the Dordogne, but the sale fell through,’ says Paula. ‘Then I spotted this priory up for sale. However, it was miles away and far beyond my budget, so I put it to the back of my mind.’
‘It’s such a special place,’ she says. ‘I’d only just got through the big iron gates when I decided I wanted to live here. There’s such a sense of calm about the property and its land.’
Renovation plans
The 14th-century priory – the main part of the property – and its adjoining medieval round tower, set in a walled garden, had stood empty for seven years before Paula bought them.
She began by renovating the priory, fixing the roof and turning it into a holiday home to bring in a small income.
‘I’ve decorated several large English country homes in my time and have plenty of experience in transforming old properties,’ says Paula, who previously ran her own interior design business.
‘I knew I could freshen it up without losing any of its period charm.’
Natural decor
Once the priory was up and running as a gite, Paula turned her attention to the tower.
As the unusual building hadn’t been lived in for a long while, the decor was tired and a little gloomy.
‘I wanted to play to the property’s origins and chose simple, natural furnishings and neutral textiles,’ she says.
‘There are candles everywhere, rush matting on the wooden floors, and I’ve tried to create a sense of how it might have felt centuries ago.’
The original timeworn floors, ceiling beams, window shutters and characterful stone window openings all remain, with Paula adding her own signature updates.
She brought the cotton damask-covered sofa bed in the living room with her when she moved from the UK.
Creating a feature fireplace
To make it feel more cosy, one of Paula’s first tasks was to open up the living room’s original inglenook fireplace, which had been blocked up many years ago.
The fireplace has made a world of difference to the living space – the cosy glow and warmth from the fire bring the room to life once more.
Unfitted kitchen
The separate kitchen and dining area is charming, with deep-set windows, chalky lime-plastered walls and linen curtains over freestanding kitchen cabinets.
The tower’s curved walls made it almost impossible to fit standard kitchen cabinets, so for extra work surface, Paula added a pine unit found at a brocante, fixing kitchen curtains across the shelves.
As a kitchen storage idea, an old orchard ladder, discovered in the priory’s garden, makes a rustic rack for a treasured collection of copper pans.
French country style
As the kitchen includes the dining area, Paula kept the furnishings simple.
She has channelled French country style with antique monogrammed linen, a chandelier, which was a gift from a friend, and rush-seated chairs that she picked up from a brocante.
This glass-fronted armoire was in a sorry state, so Paula’s son rubbed it down and painted it, resulting in a lovely piece of upcycled furniture.
Paula has filled the shelves with fabric remnants from her interiors business
Dreamy bedrooms
There are two bedrooms in the tower, each accessed by its own spiral staircase.
‘When I first looked round, I felt the main bedroom was lacking something,’ says Paula. ‘Using a length of pink fabric that I’d brought with me from the UK, I designed the romantic drapes and coronet for the bed.’
She chose a warm neutral bedroom colour scheme, creating a feminine and romantic space.
Secret garden
The tower has its own private entrance and walled garden within the grounds of the medieval priory, adding further to the fairytale feel.
As Paula’s gite business approaches its eighth year, she welcomes frequent visitors of all ages; they are soon won over by the sense of calm and tranquillity in the tower and its surroundings.
‘I really enjoy having visitors, and I love it when people fall in love with the area,’ says Paula. ‘It’s not hard to share my space; in fact, with somewhere as special as this, it just seems to be the right thing to do. I’m certainly honoured to take my place as the latest custodian of this sublimely beautiful place.’
When the priory and tower are both occupied by holidaymakers, Paula moves into her converted artist’s studio in the grounds. Then, once her last summer visitors have left, she reclaims her own space again and spends cosy winter days by the huge inglenook fireplace in the living room.
Get the look
H&M
Lace-Trimmed Cotton Tablecloth – White/buon Appetito
Neptune
Bramley Stoneware Butter Dish
Garden Trading
Rive Droite Bistro Set Large Thistle Green
This feature first appeared in Period Living Magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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