An 18th century riverside terraced home in France – it’s magnifique for one expat Kiwi.

This New Zealander is making her own memories in an 18th century terrace house in France

There’s no escaping history when your home is one of a row of fine houses built alongside France’s Loire River in the 18th century by merchants who were trading their wares on the quay below. New Zealander Nicky de Bouillé could hardly believe her luck when she came across the barely touched heritage property on the riverfront in the pretty French township of Saumur five years ago.

The five-storey terrace house had miraculously escaped from being developed and turned into flats and its original features were intact, including the original oak staircase that wound its way up to the attic, now used as an art studio by Nicky and her French-Kiwi or “Friwi” children Augustin, 17, and Olympia, 14.

“History is certainly present in the house,” Nicky explains. “So much has happened in this part of France. It is entertaining to imagine the Roman legions and Viking raiders who came here, disembarking from their ships where the house stands today.”

She often sees history buffs floating past the window in flat-bottomed boats with sails, replicas of

those once used to transport goods to Paris from Atlantic ports. “It’s a beautiful thing to see them sailing upriver on a windy day, with the sailors wearing tricorne hats like pirates,” Nicky says.

Rather than plunge into an extensive renovation of the house, the former Cantabrian, who grew up on a farm near Windwhistle just north of Methven, decided to change very little about the “small but perfectly formed” abode and chose to celebrate its eccentricities instead.

While the house was built in 1732, its foundations are older and a couple of years ago Nicky asked a friend to investigate the cellar floor with his metal detector. He didn’t find Viking gold but unearthed two ancient coins, the oldest of which was dated 1619.

The home’s sitting room and kitchen, painted a deep Prussian blue, are on the ground floor and contain much of Nicky’s eclectic collection of art and objects; the self-confessed “antiques hound” is often found at the town auction house browsing its treasure trove of objects sometimes for sale at bargain prices.

Among her favourite finds on display in a corner of the sitting room are a bronze Renaissance bust; a Chinese horse; an oil painting of Mt Peel by a relation, New Zealand artist Austen Deans; a porcupine quill; a painted tile from Lisbon, and an early 19th century French brass drum used to sound an alert by forest rangers patrolling for poachers.

The journey up those ancient oak stairs to the

light-filled art studio in the attic is rewarded with views of Saumur’s iconic 14th century chateau and the Loire River. This is where Nicky makes her terracotta sculptures of people and horses, some of which are on display around the house.

“It sometimes feels like we live in a treehouse,” she says of the trek to the top.

As the French manager for British travel publisher Sawday’s, Nicky is constantly inspired by the interiors of beautiful homes across her adopted country.

One of her main roles is to select the properties that can join Sawday’s collection of places to stay, which has honed her appreciation for the care of heritage properties.

“This job has shed new light on the importance of

interior design for me. I see so many gorgeous old houses that have been massacred inside.

“I have to turn them down, to the owner’s dismay, because I know they won’t appeal to our clients.”

Nicky often found herself giving out advice to these homeowners – so she started a small interior and garden design consultancy business, motivated by a desire to preserve the integrity of the historic buildings as much as making their interiors shine.

An important member of the family often accompanying Nicky on her travels around the nooks and crannies of France is Vespa, their mixed breed rescue hound.

This much-loved pooch is famous around town because she was stolen a few years ago, to the family’s distress, then returned 18 months later after the thief had pangs of conscience and gave her back. “The story made the headlines and strangers in the street still recognise her and make a fuss of her,” Nicky says.

Maybe Vespa’s adventures too will become part of the folklore of this charming little town on the other side of the world, all thanks to one New Zealander.

LEFT The kitchen has open shelves displaying Nicky’s collection of cabbage ware plates found in Portugal and other auction discoveries: “My French friends laugh as we love to cook Asian food; I’ve found that antique copper pans are the best for making pot sticker dumplings,” says Nicky. RIGHT The elegant armchair is from the time period following the French Revolution called Directoire, Nicky’s favourite era for French furniture: “Napoleon Bonaparte’s adventures had a huge influence in the design of the time and the legs of the chair are called sabres; it’s amusing to think of him designing furniture,” she says.