The project's story
In the watermill’s heyday, there must have been a bustling activity
with farmers bringing their wheat to grind,
lorries being loaded with flour bags to deliver to bakers,
and families using the bread oven to turn their flour into bread.
My story
A journey
As a child, I thought that I would choose an outdoor profession but, when it was time to take the leap, I went to business school instead. For 20 years, I worked in marketing in the luxury sector in New York, London and Hong Kong. It was glamorous, but it was not a perfect fit. I did, however, acquire a taste for artisanal skills and indulged my love of the natural world outside of work.
Perhaps my interest in plants is inherited from my great-grandparents who had a nursery, and my grandparents who sold seeds. But with my city life I had to settle for planting tomatoes on our New York rooftop and learning permaculture on the side. I developed an early awareness of climate change and the need to change our lifestyles, but increasingly struggled to reconcile this with my marketing job in luxury. So I soothed my eco-anxiety by cleaning Hong Kong’s beaches.
In my ongoing quest for solutions, agriculture appeared as a major lever for the ecological transition: diversified crops and regenerated soils can capture carbon, preserve water and increase biodiversity. Easily said, less easily done in a city like Hong Kong which imports most of its water and food.
Birth of the project
In 2018 I finally embraced my environmental convictions and took a business sustainability course, which led me to a role with Shared Value Initiative HK, whose mission is to help companies identify profitable solutions to social and environmental issues. Our job was cut out for us!
Finally, in 2021 the stars aligned with a return to France after 32 years on four continents, and, at the same time, an opportunity to purchase land in my home region. I saw it as the perfect moment to change my career path and took a 2-year agricultural qualification .
With this agritourism project, I can share my vision of an agriculture that feeds and reconnects us, an agriculture that creates landscapes and holds many keys to climate change adaptation. I’m excited to welcome you to our innovative agro-ecologic destination, where you can reconnect with friends and family, rediscover your place within the ecosystem and gain confidence using your hands.
History of the site
A mill in operation until 1987
There used to be two mills connected to the farm: the windmill on the ridge was used in summer and the water mill in the hamlet worked in winter when water levels were high. The river was diverted some 500 yards away to create a millstream powering the wheel.
Today the stream is back in its natural bed at the bottom of the valley, but an alignment of magnificent self-seeded trees outlines the former millstream, where the soil was rich and humid.
According to local historians, a water mill operated on site since 1610. It appears on ancient maps (Cassini before 1789) and the Napoleonic land registry (around 1834). In 1908, the water mill was turned into a steam-powered mill, then the motor was powered successively by lean gas (1918), diesel (1933), gasoline (1949) and finally electricity (1955).
Roger Sionnet, the last miller at Les Etrebières, closed the mill at the end of 1987, but the dairy farm still operated until the 2000s. Farming was always a supplementary activity to the mill, with vegetable gardens, fruit trees, vines to make local wine, and chickens, pigs, rabbits, etc. in addition to the dairy cows.
Eco-renovation
Work from October 2023 to May 2025
The emphasis was on respect for the history of the placeand eco-construction techniques. Energy efficiency is at the heart of the project:
- collecting rain from the roofs to flush toilets
- phyto-purification sanitation system with reed beds
- wood furnace (renewable energy) and a log burner in the lounge for cosiness
- hemp, flax and cotton as insulation material + hemp-sand coating on walls
- hemp and lime insulation + hemp-lime-sand coating for the lounge's wall
- maximising natural light (velux windows)
- maximising natural ventilation (tilt and turn windows)
- solar protection (shutters, pergola)
- solar panels on the farm shed
The project for the hamlet
A village on a hillside
As in the mountains, thehe buildings follow the contour lines and there is a 10m difference in height between the bottom and the top of the hamlet.
Over time, the buildings were modified and added to according to the families’ needs and the mill’s activity. Traces of this evolution remain on the stone walls today. If only they could tell their story…
The former dwellings have now been restored to create a large, charming gîte that can accommodate families, groups of friends or colleagues. The mill, barn and orchard/vegetable garden are used for craft workshops.
The old watermill
A showcase for the hamlet, the mill welcomes visitors with its imposing façade. It bears witness to the intense milling activity in the hamlet and all along the stream (a tributary of the Loing).
Phase 1 of the works took the mill out of the water (covered enclosure). Phase 2, scheduled for 2026, will see the development of :
- a storage area on the ground floor,
- on level 2 (upper ground floor), a kitchen for culinary workshops using farm produce and an adjoining room for meetings, conferences or creative arts workshops (sewing, knitting, etc.),
- level 3, a workspace
The barn
The barn is now watertight with a new roof.
It can accommodate Skills workshops to reconnect with materials, reappropriate simple gestures and rediscover the pleasure of creating with your own hands. You can learn the basics of carpentry, mechanics, basketry, pottery or gardening...
The barn will become a place where passionate artisans share their knowledge with those who want to reconnect with the joy of handmaking.
The farm buildings
The cowshed, shed, pigsty and henhouse on the heights of the hamlet will continue to be used for agricultural purposes and will house fruit trees, market gardening, small livestock and other crops.
Although built of clinker blocks after the Second World War, the hangar respects the proportions of the Vendée barn. traditionalIt is flanked by a stone stable.
As part of the ecological renovation, photovoltaic panels for electricity production are being installed on the roofs.
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