About fifteen years ago, I fell under the spell of this 18th century farm in the heart of four hectares of meadows bordered by woods with this incredible borie leaning on two rocks. Instinctively, I thought of giving it the name “Araucanie Farm” thinking of my parents whose footsteps took them to South America where I was born and in connection with Antoine de Tounens, born in 1825 and died in 1878 in Tourtoirac, who was officially King of Araucania and Patagonia from November 17, 1860 to January 5, 1862.
I knew I could give a future to this place of peasant dwelling without distorting it and while keeping its authenticity.
If preserving the building was my wish, the interior had to be completely remodeled, by coating the walls with sand and lime, by laying a stone paving, by redoing the roofs with old flat salvaged tiles, by refitting without destroying the rural spirit of the place.
It took two years of work, carried out by local craftsmen referenced by the buildings of France, under the VMF (Vieilles Maisons Françaises) and MPF (Maisons Paysannes de France) labels to finalize my project.
Today, La Ferme d’Araucanie can accommodate up to eight guests in these carefully renovated spaces, between discreet luxury and restored rural heritage.
The Mapuches, or Araucans, are a tribe of people who for centuries managed to resist the Incas, the Spanish and the government of Chile. However, following the campaign of ‘The Pacification of Araucania’ between 1860 and 1863, the Chileans managed to contain them within a so-called Reservation, without their being completely subdued.
Then into the picture emerged Antoine de Tounens, a former French lawyer who had arrived in Chile in 1858, and who managed to win the trust of the Mapuche chieftains. Thus, in November 1860, he was able to found the Kingdom of Araucanie and Patagonia, whose borders lay between the estuaries of the rivers Biobio and Negro, and between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.
In January 1862 the Chilean authorities arrested de Tounens, had him declared mad, and repatriated him to France. Back in Paris he led a modest life, trying without success to reclaim his kingdom; despite several attempts to return to Araucania, he died in 1878, in Tourtoirac, a sick man and bankrupt.
Eventually, in December 1902, the Mapuche territitories were divided between Chile and Argentina, under the terms of a treaty brokered by the British.
On the side of a small hill just a few minutes away from the charming village of Tourtoirac, la Ferme d’Araucanie sits snugly at the heart of a property of four hectares. If calm and a love for nature are your thing, then the house is likewise ideally situated to reach various places of interest across the region, including:
