You may remember, some time ago at the beginning of 2019 the Château Bathrooms were reconstructed, fitted and dressed in more 18th Century fashion, honouring the tradition and history of the property.
As Château de Gudanes is a Class I historically listed building we are unable to install ensuites in the bedrooms, as this would involve damaging what remains of the historical wallpapers, plaster and stonework that remains there.
Bathrooms, though not entirely as we know them today, didn’t begin to emerge in homes until the 19th Century. And so, what was once a medieval château, with ancient stone walls in many areas meters thick, was not built with such things in mind.
But of course, bathrooms nowadays are a necessity!
And so, at the Château today the bathrooms are located in a central space on the ground floor. This space was previously converted into a communal bathroom area in the 1970s when the Château was a school holiday camp venue for local children. Fortunately, what remained of this space was just a few tiles on the walls and floor and so we were able to reinstall new (yet more golden age inspired!) bathrooms in the space.
Using this space was also a practical decision as we could reuse the holes from the old plumbing and have all facilities coming up from the basement directly below. This would then mean that no new spaces would be affected by the installation of pipes. It would also mean that if there were any leaks, we could easily and quickly identify them from the basement below before any more historical significant areas were affected by possible water damage. The water damage in bathrooms being one of the leading causes of damage in historical properties here.
To start, we removed the old tiles and then decided to panel the walls in the space to avoid damaging the existing medieval stone ones. Modern panelling was something we were very against in rebuilding the rest of the property but here it was ideal. The concept was that if in the future these new bathrooms we were creating were eventually decommissioned that they could be removed without altering the integrity of the Château.
The wallpaper we chose were modern reproductions created by an atelier in Paris in the Marais district, Antoinette Poisson, specialising in 18th Century style papers.
Modern fittings with a botanical influence were then chosen to match. A mix of pieces from 18th Century heritage bathroom company, Herbeau, in Paris and modern fittings from London. For the showers in particular we made a very modern choice, permitting the view from the window of the mountains to be the central focus.
Now in this space, there is a beautiful union between the older medieval and newer neoclassic centuries and architecture of the Château juxtaposed with modern necessities.
To read the full story of the renovation of the bathrooms, step by step with before and afters, we warmly welcome you to read our earlier post here.
Following the bathroom renovations we were left with a space outside them that remained a blank canvas until this year. Our grand plan was to transform this area into an opulent inspired opera dressing room. But with other areas in need of more pressing work the space remained unfinished. Until now…
This year we have transformed this space into an elegant retreat. For the final fitting, we chose a wallpaper inspired by a small, palm sized piece of historic wallpaper that we discovered hidden away beneath layers of paint in an adjoining room. This wallpaper, also crafted by Antoinette Poisson, is more medieval and Renaissance inspired in colour and style though still botanical. The bathroom space is located in the oldest, medieval part of the building and so this choice is an appropriate fit.
Around the room old fashioned wall lights reflect a series of gold gilded mismatched antique mirrors. Spaces for the touching up of hair, makeup and such. Antique wooden cupboards hold various necessities for guests to use at whim including Fragonard fragrances, and Trudon candles and home scents add a beautiful finishing touch to the central dressing table.
Over the coming months, we are hoping to finds a selection of smaller tables and chairs to create some lovely hair and makeup areas and perhaps a decorative silk screen…
