During our holidays I actually found the time to glance (again!) through a lot of my interior design books.
One of these books, I got very attached to - and which I browsed through for the umpteenth time - is the book ‘An Invitation to Château du Grand-Lucé’ , by my friend and one of my favorite American interior designers, Timothy Corrigan.
Readers who are following my blog for quite some time, definitely noticed that I have blogged before about Timothy’s work (here) and even about his book (here).
Cover Book ‘An Invitation to Château du Grand-Lucé’ – Timothy Corrigan
For several years Timothy Corrigan is featured on the AD100 list of the world’s best interior designers and architects.
I do know that a lot of my American readers are familiar with the work of Timothy, but today I really wanted to blog again about Timothy’s book, because I wanted my European (and especially my Belgian) followers getting introduced to this remarkable and talented designer.
Timothy, who is passionate about French architecture and design history, bought a neoclassical château in the Loire Valley, France and brought it to it’s glory by transforming it into an exceptionally livable home, his personal retreat where he loves to entertain.
The book ‘An Invitation to Château du Grand-Lucé’ is about the story of this stunningly restored French château, filled with beautiful images.
As the château is a national landmark of which every bit of the building, each tree or stone is listed, Timothy had to be very careful with the renovation of the building and its gardens.
The initial major restoration took approximately 5 years!
The château needed to be restored in a meticulous way. Of course I was very much interested in the restoration of the paneling present in many rooms of the castle. Like no other, I do know how important it is to restore the authentic paneling, using time honored techniques as applied in the 18th century! Surrounded by craftsmen and experts, Timothy restored all paneling in respect to the past. The result is outstanding!
Timothy re-designed all the interiors of the château and filled the rooms with art and antiques.
The book ‘An Invitation to Château du Grand-Lucé’ always within reach!
The 18th century national landmark before the restoration.
Image source Architectural Digest
‘Château du Grand-Lucé’ today.
Image source Architectural Digest
Timothy wanted to share the restoration proces of the château with us and uploaded interesting videos of the transformation.
Click on image to watch the restoration trailer.
The huge staircase.
Image source Architectural Digest
Timothy at the grand staircase during the restoration.
Image source : video ‘An Invitation to Chateau du Grand-Lucé - The Restoration Trailer’
Timothy is explaining the proces of the restoration of the original paneling. The paint on the paneling was removed to get back to the beautiful rough wood that was original to the château. Because of fungus that has been growing on the walls over the years, they had to recreate wood panels using the same techniques that were used when the château was built in the 18th century. 
Image source : video ‘Timothy Corrigan on Restoration’
Meticulous removing of the paint on the wood paneling.
Image source : video ‘Timothy Corrigan on Restoration’
I highly recommend to watch the above mentioned videos about the restoration !
Following here, some of the rooms before and after.
Salon de Chinois before
Image source Architectural Digest
The murals define the Western idea of life in 18th-century China.They were originally painted by the artist Jean-Baptiste Pillement, which was one of Marie Antoinette’s official painters.This salon is one of only three surviving rooms painted by him in the world.
Salon de Chinois after
Image source Architectural Digest
The Grand Salon before
Image source Architectural Digest
The Grand Salon with its high ceiling, limestone floor and carved boiserie.
The Grand Salon after
Image source Architectural Digest
One of the château’s 14 guest rooms before
Image source Architectural Digest
Timothy Corrigan gave every guest room its own character and style to avoid the feeling of staying in a hotel with identical suites.
Delightful guest room after.
Image source Architectural Digest
Some images inside the book ‘An Invitation to Château du Grand-Lucé’ .
Images source here
To see a preview of the book, please click HERE.
To get your copy of the book, please click HERE or HERE.
Thank you Timothy for this wonderful book, which is my constant source of inspiration to design paneling!
Thank you for your personal note in my copy of your book. It means a lot to me!
I wanted to end this post with a beautiful picture of climbing roses and gravel paths around the pear trees in one of the Château Grand-Lucé’s gardens.
Image source Architectural Digest
To see more of the work of interior designer TIMOTHY CORRIGAN, please visit his website
Website Château du Grand-Lucé : www.chateaugrandluce.com
xx
Greet
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