The Gate House

BFB's Overview

Like its mansion house neighbour, the 2-bedroom Gate House at Burgundy Chateau is the stuff childhood fantasies are made of with woodland, sand-fringed riverbanks and an island with dinghy to explore - it is an old fashioned adventure storybook in the making!

Thanks to the fact that the Chateau's owners, Nick and Susanna Lyell have eight grand children, aged from 1-10 years old, the Gate House is a very child and baby friendly place to stay with adventure safely contained and easily supervised, so parents can enjoy their glorious surroundings with few worries about giving their little ones the freedom to roam. They've also taken care of stocking the place with some handy baby and kids gear too, see the grey 'Fast Facts' column on this page for full details.

Accommodation Overview:

The 2-bedroom Gate House is a charming, 18th century, stone building nestled up against the elegant gateway to the park of Burgundy House. Its large and airy open-plan living area gives it a surprisingly spacious feel. The interior blends gorgeous original flagstone floors and a romantic log burning stove, with simple contemporary furnishings and mod cons including a washing machine, electric fridge-freezer, cooker, hob, microwave, and an iron and ironing board. The bathroom has a bath tub and shower over. There's a spacious double and a twin bedroom, both with space for a cot.

There is space to park a car beside the house, which is entered by the garden door. Plus a large secluded garden with a barbecue area and a gateway through to some steps down to a wooded path leading to the river where there is a dinghy for guests use. Garden furniture is also provided.

Location Information

The local village which is just 100 metres walk from the gate house and has a handy children's play area and bar selling ice cream.

For guests keen to explore, Burgundy as a region, has a lot to offer. Those with an interest in wine can take advantage of the owner's links to a local British expert who will happily organise tours and tastings around some of the areas greatest vineyards, from world famous growers like Micheal Laroche in Chablis, to smaller, undiscovered places like Irancy. With wine must come food and thankfully there is no shortage of great restaurants, from family friendly bistros within 10 minutes drive and more extravagant Michelin star options within an hour's drive (including La Cote D'or (3 star) in Saulieu (50 mins) for those special occasions.

Euro Disney is around 90minutes away by TGV train (3 hours drive) away. However closer to the home mini guests can enjoy a trip to The Centre Nautique Amphitrite, in Montbard (15 mins) which is a collection of indoor pools with slides and water based activities, which comes in very handy on rainy days. For mini explorers, The Grottes (caves) at Ancy-sur-Cure is a collection of 11 prehistoric caves which allows guests to explore the many treasures uncovered their over the years and makes for an interesting historical trip.

For keen shoppers in the party, Paris is an easy day trip being just a 1 hour's TGV train journey away from house (3hrs by car).

Getting there: Montbard, is only 15 minutes drive from La Maison du Chateau and offers direct TGV links to London (4 hrs) and Paris (1 hr). By car, La Maison du Chateau is approximately 5 hrs drive from the northern coastal port of Calais. Alternatively if one takes the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Caen the drive is again 5 hours. By train on Eurostar: Guests can go direct from London Waterloo (via Lille) to Montbard, just 15 minutes from the House. Or to Paris where there are excellent trains Paris/Montbard. The fast train (TGV) takes just over one hour. Car hire is available from Hertz Rental in Montbard. By air, Guest can fly to Paris with easy links to the train system and car hire. Airports at Lille and Geneva are both within 3.5-4.5hrs drive of the property.