Not far from Le Mans, Villaines is part of the long history of Maine manors and castles. It is this castle with high slate roofs that Fabrice Moireau shows us. In total immersion, the watercolourist gives us a complete and intimate vision of the place. Facades, roofs, bedrooms and living rooms, library, kitchen, cellars and moats, dovecote and barn, nothing escaped the eye of this enthusiast of ancient architecture. Completing his report, Fabrice Moireau put on the gardener’s boots and sketched from all angles, over the seasons, these marvels of domesticated nature. Stanislas Dupleix, a young writer, conducted the investigation in parallel. With his lively and documented pen, he brings to light and details the thousand and one secrets of the estate, the castle and the gardens. It narrates like a romantic story, which accompanies the watercolors as closely as possible, the ups and downs, the anecdotes, the little mysteries that only the succession of centuries allows.