| After all they lived through during
the purchase of Abbaye de la Bussiere,
another episode has come to a close for
the English Cummings family. What
is more, there is a link with the Abbaye,
since the Chateau Loizerolle and the outbuildings,
finally attributed to the Cummings at the
end of last year, were the residence of
the monks, who only moved to the Abbaye
following a fire shortly after 1130.
Let’s go back to the beginning of
the story. Before acquiring the Abbaye,
Joy and Martin Cummings proceeded with
the purchase of the Chateau Loizerolle
and the outbuildings, (barn and cross listed,
Saint Sylvestre chapel, former farmers’ cottages,
meadows, vegetable garden, woods etc),
all set in 26 hectares.
This was back in May 2002. An inheritance
problem brought the sale to a standstill,
so the Cummings family acquired the Abbaye. Then
in November 2007, a dramatic turn of events: Martin
Cummings, who will soon celebrate his 65th
birthday, learns that he has become the
new owner of Loizerolle. With the
legendary British composure, the likeable
Martin receives the news with mixed feelings. This
new challenge motives the man in his sixties,
but when he does his sums, he realises
he is going to have to come up with both
money and ideas.
Tireless worker
After 12 years in the Navy and 9 years
in company management in England, he’s
used to challenges. A tireless worker,
he then managed a pub with his wife Joy. They
then ran a small hotel before making a
success of a ‘palatial’ chateau
and then coming to join their son at Abbaye
de la Bussiere. “I enjoy building
businesses. I fell in love with this
chateau and now that I own it, I’m
going to dedicate myself to it”,
Martin Cummings confides during our visit
of this imposing residence. “This
will be a library. There I’m
going to have a bathroom with a raised
jacuzzi, so that I can see the beautiful
scenery surrounding the chateau. This
room will be our bedroom”, he continues. “It’s
magic!”
Work starts in March
Magic? Not altogether, since as
you look up, you can see a very damaged
roof. “In March, I’ll
start work on the roof. It’s
a priority. I’m also going
to restore the pink brick walls, which
look so lovely in the sun”, the ‘gentleman’ continues. He
will be saving a big part of the Burgundian
heritage. Because it must be said,
people of Martin Cummings’ calibre
are few and far between. Those who
like to judge others and see people here
who are just hungry to swallow up everything,
are wrong. These people are benefactors.
Let’s carry on with the visit. Inside
the chateau, murals painted by an artist
will be renovated by another artist, a
friend of the Cummings. The aging
chimney places are in serious need of renovation,
as are the walls, the ceilings, the terrace
and all the rest. Martin Cummings
is aware of that and isn’t complaining. He’s
already visualised it and has already rolled
up his sleeves. Passionate about
gardening, our happy owner is going to
create a market garden, in order to supply
the Abbaye’s chef.
Dilapidated outbuildings
As far as the outbuildings go, the Loizerolle
barn, 38m long x 18.40m wide x 7.50m high,
is listed but completely dilapidated. The
recent freezing and thawing hasn’t
helped matters. Only last weekend,
one of the arches collapsed. “We
need to act quickly and the initial costs
are estimated at 2 million euros. In
the next 5 years, some 6 million euros
will be invested. I’m thinking
of converting these outbuildings into ‘gites’ in
order to generate some income”, says
Martin Cummings, who, with the Abbaye’s
restaurants and hotel, will have spent
somewhere in the region of 15 million euros. They
are currently installing a brand new, environment-friendly
drainage system.
The long history of Loizerolle
Loizerolle is situated right in the north
of La Bussiere, 7 km from the Abbaye and
at 564m altitude. The chateau dates
back to the XIX century, but the site used
to have an abbey. Twelve, (like the
apostles), monks lived there in 1130, before
going to the current Abbaye some years
later, following a fire. The history
of Loizerolle began when Garnier II, Lord
of Sombernon, gave his ‘Aseraule’ land
to Etienne Harding, (third abbot of the
Abbaye Citeaux and ….English), so
that the monks could establish a monastery.
This land remained the home of the monks,
who build farming facilities, including
in particular the enormous barn, which
M. Cummings is going to try to preserve.
The Revolution put to an end to monastic
life and the Abbaye and Loizerolle were
sold to various people. Before the
sale to the Cummings, Loizerolle belonged
to the Lasserre family.
In 1988, the monastic barn ‘Dimierre’ and
the Loizerolle cross were added to the
list of ‘Historical Monuments’.
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