Born and raised in northern France, John Tate was accustomed to the architecture of the French countryside.

When he and his wife, Holly, moved to Paris for a couple of years in the late 1990s, John found an enthusiastic partner for everything French, from the sophisticated cuisine to the aesthetics of the French country house.

After they moved back to the States, the Tates were inspired by the work of Jack Arnold — one of America’s leading architects of the French country style. They had another architect design a rambling estate-like chateau that would, according to John, “reflect the home of a relatively prosperous country gentleman.”

Looking for the perfect property to build their manor, the Tates discovered a new development in Lewisville that was once a farm of rolling tobacco fields. “The topography on these lots reminded me of the woods around my godmother’s house in France,” John says.

Defined as elegance with a touch of nature and country mixed in, the stately home is now rooted in the rustic sensibility of the rural French countryside. 

Throughout the building process, the Tates were determined to remain relatively austere in the home’s architectural details. To this end, the couple employed a vocabulary of curved arches, soft lines, wood beams, plaster walls, and stone floors.

Building materials like timber and brick salvaged from a Reynolds tobacco warehouse gave the home an air of timelessness grounded in local rural history, just as an underground wine cellar designed to “feel like a French cave” celebrates the region’s present and future.

In the spacious kitchen, a rustic floor with large terra-cotta tiles from a 19th-century farmhouse in Provence mix with faux-painted walls and grand ceiling to give the look and feel of a home hundreds of years old.

“This is our family room,” Holly says of the kitchen. “We live here.”

As wonderful as the kitchen is as a place for family to gather, it is also a great gathering spot for people devoted to the culinary arts. It is there that Holly — an accomplished chef — and her culinary partner, Lee Evans, hold classes for their cooking school, Everyday Gourmet. Featured on last year’s Tour of Fine Kitchens, the space has a large island where the two friends demonstrate recipes and techniques to eager students. Accented with antiques, a baker’s table — bought at a flea market in Paris — adapts to the demands of budding chefs.

Throughout the home, architectural elements from the past purchased while on vacation lend an aura of authenticity not normally found in new construction.

While a 19th-century solid oak door found in the French Quarter of New Orleans welcomes guests to the manor, a carved marble fireplace in the living room typifies the interior of a Parisian apartment. To these antiques, another layer is added through the work of Angelina Taddeucci, a faux painter and muralist. From copper, leather, and stone finishes to the trompe l’ oeil effect of decorative moldings to diminutive murals that delight the eye, the Tates’ house is a tour de force of Taddeucci’s skill as an artist.

Finally, no French country home would be complete without flowers — and the Tates’ house is no exception. Around back, one of the more interesting features of the property is a dainty rose garden designed by Sharon Ralston. A bronze plaque stating La Roseraie De Sharon credits the designer of the garden, which is home to nine varieties of roses, “every one of which was born in France,” John says. Reaching down, he pulls a garden marker from the ground and reads its script in flawless native tongue: “Souvenir De La Malmaison,” meaning “Memory of the Bad House.”

For two self-proclaimed Francophiles living in Lewisville, theirs is a home that celebrates all things French — love of hearth and home, love of family, love of good friends, and love of good food. It was once said by a visiting Frenchman that “the true character of Americans is mirrored in their homes.”

Ironically, that sentiment seems to have found its fullest expression in the Tates’ country chateau.