As far as we know, country houses such as Magnolia were built by rich Parisian families for their summer escapes in the 19th century, and the year it was built can still be seen above the main door, 1862.

The earliest owner we know, is M. Antoine David. Who was not only an artist but also the village doctor. We believe the photos next to the entrance hall are of him and this portrait is of him.

One of the neighbours, I believe the mother Jean-Francois who constantly maintains his vegetable patch opposite, has lived in the village since before the war. In 1947 she was ill and spent a lot of time in Magnolia. What is now the rear ground-floor bedroom was M. David’s office. It had grand furniture which is no longer at Magnolia.

However, some of the older wardrobes (from 1800’s) are the original wardrobes from the period. You will also notice that some of the artwork is by him.

During this time the house had no running water or electricity and the toilets were until the 1960’s outside, by the Atelier. They were called “Vanille” and “Chocolat”. And by the way, as a teenager, one of our neighbours would spread the contents on the fields…!

The lady also introduced us to Lucie. Lucie was M. David’s house-keeper. She was the last person to live in the Gite. This is why we call the Gite “Lucie”. Apparently on cold winter nights she would sneak over to the main house.

But M. David was married, to Madame Colette Marie Thérèse David (born 1933). It is believed that she died only recently in 2022. She and M. David divorced and she remarried a Mr Pierre André Masson, who she outlived. M. David also remarried, a Mrs. Alice Marie Juliette MAILLARD, who became the widow of Mr. Antoine David. Mrs Maillard died in 1987 and donated the property back to Mrs Colette Masson.

As Mrs Colette Masson, she donated the property to Mr Arnaud Marie-Joseph BELLONI a gendarme who was her son, in 2004.

A little research shows that a Mr Arnaud Marie-Joseph BELLONI was promoted in 2011 which may have been the reason why the house was sold on 5th June 2012.  The house was sold to Jean-Luc Moncade and his wife Amalia. At that time, the land opposite the house, across the road also belonged to the house. That was purchased by Florent and Delphine when they built their house to prevent the land from being built on. I am very grateful for that.

The house was then purchased on 15th March 2019.

Le Magnolia de Colette

Obviously the name of the house comes from the Magnolia that dominates the front garden plus M. David’s first wife Colette. One could assume that it was Colette who planted the tree, meaning the tree is probably 65+ years old.

Early Google Street View

The earliest Google Street View dates back to October 2010. It makes an interesting journey back in time. It is not possible to see very much due to the overgrown garden, but what can be see are shutters across the attic windows, which no longer exist today.

The wall along the front, hidden by the bush, also looks like it was still in place back then. “Driving” around the corner to the garage door, we move to May 2013 and even then, the black stain above the garage door was much smaller.