As a fellow French château owner, restorer of her own beautiful property and general Francophile it is with much excitement that today we share with you a little more about our lovely seller Karin, of Karin Borup Copenhagen in France, who designs a range of beautiful silver charms and bracelets from her workshop in her castle in the French countryside...

It was in the autumn of 2012 that Karin, a goldsmith originally from Copenhagen, and her husband Jesper, an engineer, fell in love with and bought Château Saint Gaultier.

Set in a peaceful and picturesque little village the old iron gates to this magnificent castle open onto the village square where there is a market each Friday morning. Further down the winding carriageway the château is set amongst a private parkland filled with trees, many over 600 years old. The towers and turrets of the castle overlook their private parkland which stretches into fields and forests and neighbouring horse folds with happy trotting horses. Sitting on the River Creuse the glistening water can be seen not far in the distance...

Naturally, seeming as if this setting was straight from a dream and amongst the falling, golden leaves of the season Château Saint Gaultier was impossible for Karin and Jesper to resist.

But, the castle itself had been left abandoned for many years and so since then together they have begun to gently restoring its 43 rooms...

Along the way they have of course discovered much interesting history about their beautiful property. The current château, built in 1890, incorporates the ruins of another medieval castle which French King, Henri IV, visited and stayed at in 1597.

Today together with Jesper, Karin runs a B & B in the summer, in the charmingly renovated accomodations of the old stables (pictured below), and continues restoring the Chateau in the winter.

And in between, Karin also enjoys driving around the countryside visiting the local farmer's markets, picking fresh mushrooms from around the estate, nurturing the vegetables and flowers in her garden, cooking in her kitchen whose doors are surrounded by beautiful white roses, knitting cosy sweaters for the winter and of course time spent outdoors with her chickens and other animals...

Naturally, since moving to France Karin has also continued her work as a goldsmith. In Copenhagen she used to work with very fine diamond jewelry but now focuses on her own line. Upon moving to France she was inspired to make a silver collection, and many of the beautiful charms she has created are inspired by her love of animals some of whom find their home with her in France. And her key to the castle charm... 

All of her jewellery pieces are designed in her workshop that she has setup in her home at Chateau Saint Gaultier, and are produced in Denmark and France. Each piece is made in Sterling Silver 925 S and some of the animals have real diamonds as eyes. And her elephant charm even has diamonds in the trunk and under the feet! And as the finishing touch, all of her pieces arrive in lovely specially made metal tins.

All of them designed and made with love... 

The proceeds from Karin's jewellery assist in helping to support the ongoing restoration of Château Saint Gaultier. All of us at Château de Gudanes very much admire not only all of the beautiful jewellery pieces she creates but also the work that both Karin and Jesper do as a labour of love for this historic property.

We hope you enjoyed reading,

Karina and the Château Team x