The Coach House

THE COACH HOUSE
This is a beautifully converted Coach House situated in the intimate hamlet of St Aubin de Bonneval - offering a quiet, safe and family friendly environment for a totally relaxing and stress-free holiday.

The Coach House is very spacious (150 square meters) conveniently arranged for family living and furnished to a high standard. Exposed beams and wood floors lend warmth and charm to the cottage atmosphere. This accommodation has a large secluded rear garden with outdoor dinning terrace and barbecue facilities, and fronted by a driveway with private parking for 2 cars. There are no local shops, but there is a well attended licensed community Bar open Friday evenings for exchange of gossip and to put the wold to rights.

The Coach House is part of - but secluded and totally separate from - the old village Priory where its English owners live. The Priory's 2 beautiful Lorraine donkeys are your only visible neighbours (greeting you every morning over the garden fence) And the owners are always on hand (if required) to offer local knowledge, help and advice.

St Aubin is situated at the crossroads of Calvados, the Orne and the Eure and offers easy access to all the region’s tourists activities. The local town of Orbec with its restaurants, bars and shopping facilities is within seven minutes drive. A further 10 minutes will bring you to the delightful river town of Bernay - famous for its Farmers' Market, Antique Shops and a wide selection of Bars and Restaurants.
(For guests wanting to spend the day in Paris, travel is easy - only 1 hour 15 minutes (non-stop) by fast train from Bernay station).

For lovers of street markets, antique flea markets, and food - the immediate region provides countless opportunities on a daily basis during the season (April to October) The owners have an antique business and a regular presence in the local markets. They are always on hand to advise guests on the location of the markets (brocantes) and what to look out for.

St Aubin is also within a 45 minutes drive of the delightful and historic coastal towns of Deauville. Trouville and Honfleur, magnificent white sandy beaches of the region, and the best seafood restaurants in France.. Plus a world class golf course and horse racing venue in Deauville.

The owner of the Coach House is a keen Fly Fisherman and can arrange Fly Fishing on a 3km private stretch of the Risle, Normandy's premiere chalk stream for trout.

Use the CONTACT OWNER option for all your enquiries - or through the 'VERIFIED USER' details at the top the page


"REVIEWS FROM OTHER SITES"

Gite.Com reviews
20/08/2025

Hello Arkadi and Cynthia,

We want to thank you for giving us the privilege of staying in your beautiful cottage in St Aubin. Everything about the cottage and the warm and friendly welcome we received from you and your neighbours made our first holiday away since covid a real success.
The peace and quiet of the area was really refreshing and the lovely town of Orbec is a great visit.

Little Jonathan loved the donkeys and talks about them. He wants his mother to buy carrots so he can come back and feed them!

We have stayed in many gites and apartments in France and Italy and I would rate the Coach House as no.1

With our best wishes for the future,


Mike and Cynthia Crisp (and David, Jessica, Sam and Jonathan)

AIR BnB Public review: Overall rating 5*
David’s review
The Coach House was light and airy and full of character. We thoughly relaxed in the garden with Derek and Domino the two donkeys. Thank you for the nice touches on our arrival and your suggestions on what to do and where to eat. Lovely thoughtful host .

AIR BnB
Victoria's private review:
Beautiful cottage and garden in an unspoilt Normandy village. The interior is light, bright, and decorated with a charming French feel. Super comfy beds. The owner was welcoming, friendly, and full of advice on where to visit and which markets were on when.
The donkeys were the icing on the cake. We would love to go back one day.

VRBO
Petra’s review: Translated from Dutch
Quiet in the country Beautiful old cottage. Very friendly owners who live next to the cottage. A car is necessary, because there are no facilities such as a bakery in the village itself. Spacious bedrooms, nice sitting area in the living room, beautiful garden, and two direct neighbors, the donkeys Derek and Domino. For those looking for an authentic part of France, this is the ideal place. Distance to the beach or a larger city such as Honfleur or Caen approximately 1 hour. Point of interest: room height on the ground floor relatively low, design of the bathrooms a bit dated. We had a nice, quiet holiday there.

VRBO
Annelies left you a review. 5 out of 5
Coach house
We stayed here with our 3 teenagers and our dog. We enjoyed the peace and space and the attractively decorated house. No WiFi seemed to be a problem for a while. But we played a lot of games because of this. The only downside was the distance to run an errand. We found the donkeys very pleasant. Kim and Arkady were very interested. Our dog was also spoiled with something tasty... in short, we had a great week. Thank you!! Love Mike, Annelies, Sam, Sterre and Bibianne.

HOLIDAY LETTINGS
Fantastic holiday in rural France
We had a lovely time during our week at The Coach House. Kadi & Kim were so friendly and gave us great hints and tips on what to see and do. The property was clean and neat and tidy and has a fabulous garden to relax in and for the kids to play. We have three little kids (all under 6) and they loved feeding Domino and Derek the donkeys over the fence. It was so nice to stay somewhere where we felt we were actually in France and not just in a big hotel/complex that could have been anywhere. We would have loved the village to have had a bakery or a few more local businesses to visit but as it turned out we ended up venturing further afield and discovered some great places nearby. We would highly recommend this as a place to go for a relaxing holiday away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

HOLIDAY LETTINGS
Emily C
Rustic and relaxing holiday charm.
We stayed at this quaint retreat in the Normandy countryside with our two small children and two additional friends visiting from the US. We all really enjoyed the setting and the kids adored the pony and donkey who live out back. Thelly (the shetland pony) and Derrick (the donkey) are sweet and gentle animals who were lots of fun to feed carrots and apples to. The property owners went out of their way to be hospitable and helpful. We spent a week at the property in August and missioned out to see Mont Saint-Michel, Honfleur, Omaha Beach & the US cemetery, Bayeux, Monet's home in GIverny and Livarot. These points of interest are around an hour/hour plus drive from the property. We would all definitely recommend this property for a lovely holiday.

HOLIDAY LETTINGS
L M, Thirsk, United Kingdom
Peaceful break in the gorgeous French countryside
My family and I chose The Coach House as our base for a weeks’ holiday in August, we were not to be disappointed! Our drive down from Calais to Orbec took approximately 3 hours, however finding The Coach House initially proved a little tricky.. St Aubin is approximately a 10 minute drive outside of Orbec; after a few conversations with very helpful locals we were on the right road and arrived at the property. The Coach House We were greeted on arrival by our hosts Kim and Kadi who did everything they could to ensure we had an enjoyable stay. The photos really don't do The Coach House justice, it really is very well laid out and easily accommodated 4 adults and 2 children (ages 1 and 11) with room to spare. All the beds were extremely comfortable with bed linen provided, having driven all the way from Yorkshire it was great not to have to start putting bedding on before we could go to sleep. The kitchen was well used during our stay, we even cooked a pork Sunday dinner with Yorkshire puddings!! Having two bathrooms in the property was great as we would have struggled with one, the hot water was constant which was great. The property doesn’t have a TV but this wasn’t as issue, we took board games with us for on an evening (there is a small selection in the property) and not forgetting the resident pony and donkey in the garden who enjoyed receiving a carrot for breakfast every morning. Days Out Honfleur, Deauville and Trouville are only 45 mins away we headed to the coast during our stay. Honfleur is very pretty with the marina, however Deauville beach was fantastic! it was so clean and had plenty to amuse the children, We also visited the Cerza Zoo which was another great day out and not far from the property. The local towns were great to visit too, Orbec has a great selection of Patisseries and we sampled a few of their delicious cakes. Overall we had a brilliant holiday and would definitely recommend the property to those travelling with children. Our week in St Aubin was over far too quickly and we could have easily stayed for longer.


Use the CONTACT OWNER option for all your enquiries - or through the 'VERIFIED USER' details at the top the page