Victoria French Cottage 2015

Don’t Forget For even more inspiration for gracious living and gardening, visit our website, victoriamag.com. You’ll find photos, tips, and how-tos on our social media sites, so follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. P.S. Make sure to visit my blog,theribboninmyjournal.com. I have long been enchanted with the lifestyle of France. Even when my travels don’t spirit me away to that land, whenever I seek French inspiration, I refer to my magazine and book collection that focuses on its people, décor, and food. This special Victoria Classics edition is designed to allow our readers to peek into homes and shops filled with the tasteful furnishings and charming accessories we associate with Gallic culture. History is ever present in the residences showcased in these pages. Coupled with homes chosen from the French countryside are…

For more than two hundred years, this white stone house near the river Seine has borne silent testimony to the passage of time. The quaint structure, with its halo of wisteria vines and panoply of classic statuary, was initially built as a barn for storing farm implements and livestock fodder. Although the Allied armies inadvertently dropped bombs on a section of the property during World War II, the wounds have long since healed, replaced with a charming garden that thrives under the botanical expertise of the present owner, Madame Annie-Camille Kuentzmann. Terra-cotta floor tiles weave throughout the home, their warm hue a fitting foundation for museumquality furnishings that adorn every room. Annie-Camille has acted as sole decorator, utilizing her love of stately old mansions for inspiration. And even though every timeworn…

For expatriate Corey Amaro, her life story thus far has been an offbeat sort of fairy tale—American girl falls in love with French boy, moves to France, and lands on foreign soil with only two suitcases. French boy becomes French Husband, and twentyseven years later, the intercontinental couple and their two beautiful children continue to live happily ever after. Of course, as fairy tales are wont to be, that’s a bit of gloss-over. French Husband (which Corey actually calls him) is Yann, and French Children are daughter Chelsea and son Sacha. French House is hidden off an alley in a one-thousand-year-old fishing village so anchored in history, it boasts roads built by ancient Roman engineers. It is filled with French antiques, pieces Corey carefully chose and arranged just so to create…

Captivating storytellers, toile patterns have been adored the world over for their romantic imagery featuring flowers, fauna, and idyllic scenes of genteel country life. The craze began quickly when the first printed cottons were imported to France from India in the sixteenth century. Lightweight and washable, these wildly colorful blockprinted indiennes were met with an exuberant fervor that virtually paralyzed the French fabric industry. So imminent was this threat of competition that, in 1686, King Louis XIV commanded an embargo on the importation of all cottons and issued a decree to arrest anyone who violated the ban. Despite these deterrents, the quest continued to flourish in secret. When the ban was lifted in 1759, the coveted printed cottons eventually rebounded from their scandalous beginnings, and French factories regrouped in hopes of…

“A guest never forgets the host who had treated him kindly“. —HOMER…

“He is the happiest, be he king or peasant, who finds peace in his home.” —JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE…