Nathalie Baye’s Life in Creuse: A Paradise Lost
It was in 1975 that Nathalie Baye acquired this estate, which is now her lost paradise forever. At 27, thanks to a small inheritance, the actress bought this house with exposed stone and green shutters for a “bargain.” The place has been her haven of peace for almost thirty-three years. Her friend of several decades, the writer Jean-Marie Chevrier, remembered, “She fell in love with this land and loved this unchanging countryside, sheltered from the world, which has not changed since time immemorial.”
“Philippe Léotard was a great friend, and she accompanied him when he came to see me in Creuse,” he explained about the love story between the actress and the department. “Then, she bought this house, somewhat disconnected from the world. But very simple like her. She was the opposite of a star. She was not at all part of the jet-set or celebrity world. She drank thyme tea and went to bed at 9 pm.” Nathalie Baye gradually renovated the house in Creuse with her movie earnings to make it her dream place.
30 Years of Happiness in her Creuse Home: “We Left Them Alone”
Nathalie Baye blended into the landscape and adopted the lifestyle of the locals. “She went shopping like everyone else, even though she was a star,” said one of her former neighbors. “We would have a drink at her place, and she was friends with the local vet who brought her freshly caught trout.”
But Paris still called to her. France Gall, Michel Berger, Fabrice Luchini, and even Christophe Lambert found refuge in her house away from show business. Separated from Philippe Léotard, Nathalie Baye met a certain Johnny Hallyday. The actress and the singer fell in love. Johnny Hallyday reportedly loved this place. “We saw them when they were shopping in the village. But at the same time, we left them alone. We respected their privacy and their need to take a break, away from the limelight,” explained the mayor in a previous interview. True happiness.
But why did Nathalie Baye finally give up this beloved house? “Nathalie thought that Laura would come to Creuse, but for a teenager, the countryside did not appeal much,” analyzed Jean-Marie Chevrier. “So, this house no longer had a reason to exist. And she moved to the Régie de l’Opéra to follow the trend because everyone in Saint-Germain was going there. But Nathalie always regretted selling this house and had told me just a few weeks ago that she wanted to buy it back if possible.”
“The Weight of Memories Might Have Been Too Heavy to Bear for Me”
According to JDD in 2022, the actress from the “Petit lieutenant” sold her property for 600,000 euros to a South African woman who apparently fell in love with it instantly. However, the new owner never returned to Valliére. “The extraordinary chestnut tree is hollowed out, the pool has become a duck pond, the garden looks like a jungle. Everything is upside down, as if the house should not outlive her,” noted our colleagues at the time.
Since 2007, to the dismay of Nathalie Baye’s former neighbors, the house has been abandoned, overrun by ivy. Neither lived in, nor maintained, nor renovated. In JDD, the actress, four times divorced, said she did not understand why she had sold it. “I don’t know if I can’t analyze it or if I don’t want to analyze it. Laura regrets that I left. The house was a paradise on earth. The weight of memories might have been too heavy to bear for me. When I visit my friends in Creuse, I can’t help but go back to see my house.”
“It made her so sad,” recalled those who witnessed her visits. Now that Nathalie Baye is gone, seeing the Valliére house come back to life becomes less and less likely, especially since despite their efforts, the municipality “cannot get any news from the buyers.” Sadness.
