A loved home built in 1890 it is bright and airy with seven bedrooms. This 19thcentury property has a wealth of original features, manicured lawns, its own wine cellar, and the garden actually leads down to the banks of the Seine.

Les Mureaux (400sq m, 1,300sq ft) is on the market with Collier Jackson Stops at 1,525,000 and stands in 3,600sq m (11,800sq ft) of scented, landscaped garden.

Thirty minutes west of Paris, Charles de Gaulle and Beauvais airports are an hour away. The town of Les Mureax has 30,000 inhabitants, lots of local shops, a commuter train service to Paris and its own private air strip. There is also a separate caretaker's house (90sq m) with a shower room and a garage.

"Everything has been meticulously renovated and beautifully restored. The floors have been sanded, antique tiles, fireplaces and the cornices beautifully maintained, " explains the owner, Mme Magali Colling.

She and her husband, who is a musical producer with the Zenith in Paris, have lived in the house for the past 15 years and "love it". They are moving to Normandy because their five-year-old son is starting school. Magali works in Normandy and they feel this is the best choice.

This is a unique property and good value for money compared to what is on offer in Ireland at the same price, Gillian Ryan who heads up Colliers overseas section says. "You don't normally find substantial properties like this for sale here. Most of the French properties on sale in Ireland are leaseback, smallbudget properties. The appetite here is for smaller, newer homes. Les Mureaux is a particularly nice property . . . it came to us through a colleague who is a friend of the owner. It is close to the city and is very accessible to Paris. There is even a small airstip close by. There is nothing run-of-the-mill about it.

"It is being marketed in France, but the system there is different from here. Generally, there is no such thing as a sole agent . . . it is offered to several agencies. In Ireland, a marketing budget is usually agreed between the agent and the vendor . . . in France, any expenses come off the fee at the end of the day. So agents are inclined to just market it to their data base. They don't actively market like we do here."

Three of the seven bedrooms are large, almost 20sq m. And the other four are smaller . . . between 12 and 15 sq m, she adds.

There are three bathrooms, two of them refurbished to the highest standard, and the other one needs a bit of work.

The double-fronted house has double reception rooms on the ground floor as well as a dining room and a kitchen/breakfast room. The doors all open out onto the terrace.

There is also a billiard room play area and a basement with utility laundry facilities, an office and central-heating system.

The roof and the outbuildings have all been renewed.

The fully planted walled garden is designed for tranquillity, with pleasant walkways, a fountain, a fish pond, and over 300 rose bushes and beautiful trees.

"It is sublime from April to November, " Mme Colling beams.