Château des Rêves Éveillés – A 17th-Century Masterpiece Near Lyon’s Golden Light

Perched above its own whispering woodland—five hectares of emerald seclusion where oaks stand sentinel and dappled sunlight dances upon moss-strewn paths—this **17th-century château in L’Étrat** unfurls like a living sonnet, just an hour from Lyon’s vibrant pulse and a fleeting quarter-hour from Saint-Étienne’s refined charm. Here, time slows to the rhythm of crackling marble fireplaces and the hushed echo of hardwood floors beneath your feet, where every stone, every carved molding, every soaring column tells of centuries polished by noble hands.

Step through the grand porte-cochère into a world where **700 square meters of luminous living space** breathe with the soul of classic France. South-facing salons, bathed in golden Auvergne light, stretch beneath coffered ceilings adorned with **authentic antique moldings**, their elegance mirrored in the veined marble of hearths that have warmed generations. Five bedrooms—**three of them master suites swathed in serenity**—offer retreat, while a **consecrated chapel**, its stained-glass whispers still lingering, awaits transformation into a library of leather-bound tomes, a salon for moonlit soirées, or a sanctuary of quiet reflection. A stately office, its windows framing the estate’s verdant expanse, beckons the connoisseur of beauty and business alike.

Beyond the main château, **two independent apartments**, each with their own discrete entrance, unfold possibilities as boundless as the estate itself: a guest wing for visiting dignitaries, a painter’s atelier flooded with northern light, or a private spa where the weary may steep in saltwater’s embrace. For the body’s delight, a **heated saltwater pool** glimmers like a sapphire set into the garden’s velvet green, while beneath the earth, a **labyrinth of cellars**—cool and timeless—promises a vinophile’s paradise.

This is no remote rural idyll, but a **crown jewel of proximity**: the culture of Lyon’s opera houses and Michelin stars within reach, the practical grace of Saint-Étienne’s amenities mere minutes away, and the hum of major roads just beyond the wrought-iron gates—yet the moment they close behind you, the world falls away. Here, the **wooden garage**, with its scent of aged timber and promise of vintage automobiles, and the **ancient well**, its stones worn smooth by centuries of drawn water, root you in a legacy that is now yours to shape.

A canvas of this magnitude demands a visionary’s touch. The **oil boiler yields to modern efficiency**, the **double-glazed windows** will hush the wind’s winter tales, and the **electricity, plumbing, and septic systems** await renewal to whisper rather than creak. One apartment, a **blank slate of 17th-century bones**, invites a complete renaissance—your imprint upon history. (Estimates, like the keys to this kingdom, are yours upon request.)

To own this château is to hold the quill that writes the next chapter of its story. Will yours be a tale of **grand fêtes beneath crystal chandeliers**, of children’s laughter ringing through the chapel’s vaulted halls, of summer nights where the pool’s reflection of the stars blurs with the heavens? The stage is set. The lights—**golden, eternal, and uniquely yours**—are already glowing.