About
The story of the Mill of Dreams.
The Place
Moulin a Reves — the Mill of Dreams — takes its name from the stone mill house that has stood on this site since the early 18th century, when the millstream was diverted from the river to power a grain mill serving the surrounding farms. The mill ceased working in the early 1900s, but the stream still runs, the wheel mechanism still turns slowly in its chamber, and the sound of water over stone still sets the rhythm of mornings here.
Over the centuries, other buildings gathered around the mill: a stone barn for storing grain and sheltering livestock, a cottage for the mill keeper's family, a walled garden where vegetables and herbs grew in rows between the fruit trees. By the mid-20th century, the compound had fallen into quiet disuse — the roofs leaked, the shutters hung loose, and the garden had returned to wildflowers and brambles.
The restoration began with a simple principle: keep everything that time made beautiful, fix everything that time broke, and add only what's needed to make the houses comfortable for the way people actually live now. The thick limestone walls stayed. The oak beams were cleaned and treated but not replaced. The blue shutters — a tradition in this part of the Seine-et-Marne — were rebuilt by a local menuisier using the same proportions as the originals. Heating, plumbing, insulation, and kitchens were brought to modern standards, but the character of the buildings was left alone.
Today, Moulin a Reves is three houses: Le Moulin, the original mill; La Grange, the converted barn; and Le Jardin, the garden cottage. Each sleeps six. Together, they sleep twenty. They share a garden, a millstream, a petanque court, and the kind of unhurried atmosphere that the French countryside has been offering to anyone willing to slow down for two hundred years.
The People
We found this place the way most people find the places that change their lives — by accident, while looking for something else. We were searching for a weekend house within reach of Paris, somewhere the children could run, somewhere the evenings would be long and the mornings slow. What we found was a compound of three forgotten stone buildings beside a millstream at the edge of a forest.
The restoration took two years. We learned more about lime mortar, oak beams, and French building regulations than we ever planned to. But the result is a place we love — and a place we believe other families, friends, and groups will love too. When the houses aren't occupied by our own extended family (which is often), we share them with guests who appreciate what makes them special.
We're not a hotel. There's no reception desk, no room service bell. But we're attentive to the details that matter — fresh flowers when you arrive, a list of our favourite restaurants, the name of the farmer who sells the best goat cheese at the Saturday marche. We want your stay to feel the way ours always does: like coming home to a place you didn't know you'd been missing.
The Vision
We believe the best holidays are the ones where you stop performing and start living. Where the days have shape but no schedule. Where children are free and adults are free from the need to entertain them. Where dinner takes as long as it takes, and nobody apologises for opening another bottle.
Moulin a Reves is not a resort. It's three houses and a garden and a stream and the edge of a forest. What you do with that is up to you. We just made sure the sheets are good, the kitchen works, the WiFi reaches the terrace, and the light in the evening is exactly the way you'll remember it.
Come and See
We'd love to welcome you. Tell us your dates and we'll take it from there.
Plan Your Stay