Château de la Huberdière

Château de la Huberdière is a sixteenth-century château in the hills of Nazelles-Négron, ten minutes from Amboise in the heart of the Loire Valley. It stands in a 14-hectare park with terraces, meadows, woodland and a large pond that mirrors the façade. Lodovica Dal Pozzo d'Annone and Patrick Jourdan restored it between 2021 and 2023, and now live here and open it to guests as a family home.

The shared spaces include a drawing room with a fireplace, a library with Versailles parquet, a winter garden, the breakfast room and a dining room seating up to 22. In the park, a 16-metre lap pool, heated from April to October, looks out over the countryside. The Château d'Amboise is 8 km away, Tours and its airport about 25 minutes, and Paris just over two hours by car.

The château is run by its owners, Lodovica, who is Italian, and Patrick, who is Breton, and they look after guests personally: Italian, French and English are spoken. It is officially classified as a 3-star hotel but has the feel of a family bed and breakfast; heating is biomass-fired and cleaning products are organic.

Massages, yoga sessions, cookery classes and bike rides through the vineyards can be arranged on request. Private parking is free and the whole property is non-smoking. The château also hosts weddings, seminars and private groups on an exclusive basis; when individual guests are staying, the shared spaces are never privatised.

The ten rooms, sleeping 21 in all, each have their own name and decoration. Paradis Sauvage is the bridal room, with a four-poster bed, Moooi wallpaper and a bathtub; Thé, in one of the towers, has orange fabric-lined walls and a marble fireplace; Giboulée reflects Patrick's love of sailing and aviation; Pêche, in the east tower, is named after the colour of its walls. Families can choose Mirage, 37 m² with a king-size bed and two singles, or the triple Allium; then come Bouquet and Cactus, the two smaller basic rooms, and two singles with antique beds, Ponceau and Bleu Indien.

All rooms have a private bathroom, toiletries and Wi-Fi; some have a freestanding bath. Air conditioning is currently available in the second-floor rooms and will be added to the first floor before summer 2027; there is no lift.

The kitchen relies on produce from the vegetable garden and small Touraine growers, short supply chain and largely organic. Breakfast is homemade and served every morning from 8.30 to 10.30 (from 2027, 8 to 10), in the breakfast room or on the terrace.

In the evening, from 1 May to 30 September, the guest table is open every day except Sunday, with sharing boards of regional cheeses, charcuterie and vegetables; on Thursdays Lodovica cooks a set Italian dinner, to be booked in advance. The rest of the year dinner can be arranged on request for groups of six or more. Lunch is not served: Amboise is ten minutes away, or a picnic basket can be prepared.

Nazelles-Négron is a small village on the north bank of the Loire, opposite Amboise, home to the royal château and Clos Lucé, Leonardo da Vinci's last residence. Amboise station, with direct trains to Tours and Paris, is 6.6 km away.

The château makes a good base for exploring the Loire châteaux: Amboise and Clos Lucé are about ten minutes away, Chenonceau 21 km, Chaumont-sur-Loire half an hour, Villandry and Chambord within an hour. All around lie the Vouvray and Montlouis vineyards and state forests, easy to explore on foot or by bike along the Loire à Vélo route.