4. The Farmhouse of Villeroux and the camping site

4.1 How we came to this.

We have already briefly mentioned which role the farmhouse of Villeroux took in the airfield’s history, at least until the local flying club moved into his new premises during the sixties. We shall come back to this time later on, but let’s start, like always in France, with a bit of history.

We have succeeded so far in tracing the existence of this farmhouse back to 1670, that means during the reign of King Louis the 14th, the Sun King. At that time, the farmhouse was already mentioned in an official act, established by a notary public, under the denomination "Métairie du Petit Villeroux". Early in the 19th century, the farm was the property of the Marquis (Earl) de la Saussaye, member of the French Science Institute and President of the local Department council. The farm and its real estate have always been exploited, however we do not know the period of erection of the actual buildings. The main building, the barn and the stable are mentioned in the official area map established 1812. Snapshots dating back from the 1920’s show that the farm was at that time a closed construction with the actual small camping site as an inner square, completely closed by a series of buildings, of which nowadays only the barn and the main building still exist. Behind the main building was a pond, which has been filled up and finally recently reinstated to reestablish the balance of ground water, thus avoiding that the farm's cellar be flooded every winter. Until its expropriation in 1937, the Farmhouse of Villeroux was one of the most prosperous of the area : around 130 hectares, 11 horses, some 30 cows and 270 sheep. It was rented and managed by the Hardillier family.

The biggest room, recently renovated, was at that time a stable. It was then turned into two separate rooms, as the two still existing chimneys attest, and then reunited in its actual shape. The sheep stable, which was located behind the small camping site, was demolished in 1988 due to the risk of crumbling down.

When you take off on runway 02, you can see at your 1 O’clock the very nice castle of Frechines. During the 18^th century, it belonged to the Viscount de Lavoisier, the famous chemist who the first performed the analysis of the air. Unfortunately, the French revolution attached greater value to his nobility than to his abilities as a scientist and he finished his life on the guillotine in the early morning of the 8^th May 1794.

But let’s come back to the present.

After the local flying club moved into its new premises on the other side of the airfield, the Farmhouse was only used to house youth camps and host glider pilots during the summer months. At this time already, the population was very European : Here you could meet Germans from Aachen, from Viersen and from Oldenburg, Belgians from Antwerp, also Dutch and even Danish glider pilots. The club of Viersen even brought his own winch several times. The Oldenburgers brought their tow aircraft. All these young people lived inside and around the Farmhouse. The atmosphere was splendid and sometimes ... humid ! A kitchen did exist, with a large table for endless dinners and army beds were laid out in the largest room. Saying that the sanitary installations were primitive is a kind of understatement ...

Around the mid-seventies. Everything grew quieter. Time came when the local flying club started to recruit his members not only in the immediate vicinity, but also in Tours and even Paris. These new members needed some accommodation to spend the week-end on site and, quite naturally the farmhouse was the place where tents and trailers were installed. This was the time where the actual A.A.V.L.L. team formed, who still maintains and manages the farmhouse.

Even in France, it is impossible to squat eternally state property without attracting some attention sooner or later. The local authorities soon started to clarify the status of the airfield and its premises. At that time, the Farmhouse of Villeroux and the southern part of the airfield were still a military estate. Asked for her intentions, the French Air Force denied any interest, which allowed to integrate this part of the airfield into the general development concept. Now the whole airfield is managed by a Joint Venture between the General Council of the Loir et Cher, the cities of Blois and Vendôme as well as the local Chamber of Commerce.

Asked for his intentions towards the Farmhouse, the local flying club denied any interest, so that the occupants were asked to create their own club to provide legal status and allow a formal rental of the building. The A.A.V.L.L was born, with the aim of welcoming European glider pilots guests on the site.

The local authorities, legitimately interested in promoting the touristic value of the area subscribed to the idea and reconditioning and preservation works were performed in 1995, as well as a new water supply and electrical power system. Simultaneously, new and clean sanitary installations were built. All these progresses were rendered possible by the generous financial aide of the General Council of the Loir et Cher, to whom we express our gratitude. This initiative made up the basis of our development, because it allows us now to welcome our guests in good and comfortable conditions. 2007 will see the application of the new Law concerning the management of territorial ressources and to adjust to these nwe conditions, the property of the airfield was transfered from the State to General Council of the Loir et Cher. A new rental contract has been established with our club and will remain vald until end of 2009.The future is now safe and we look forward to a sound development.