A Romantic Retreat Fit for a Pioneering Auto Maker HERQUEVILLE, FRANCE - The Château de Herqueville is perched on the brow of a wooded bluff in Normandy. Below, the Seine river loops around two leafy islands. A picturesque village on the opposite bank completes the panorama. Designed by André-Louis Arfvidson, creator of the Art Nouveau pavilion at the 1900 World's Fair in Paris, and built at the end of that decade, the house resembles a stately Anglo-Norman-style manor. The interiors, however, still have the stamp of the original owner, Louis Renault, the pioneer automaker who founded the French car empire that still bears his name. Often called "The Henry Ford of France," Mr. Renault was only 21 when he invented the revolutionary direct drive transmission that improved gear shifting and transformed automobile design. It made his fortune. He was equally imaginative at home. After Mr. Renault, then 29, spotted the idyllic hilltop from the deck of his yacht, he commissioned the house as a romantic retreat for himself and his mistress, the opera star Jeanne Hatto. Herqueville is about 90 kilometers, or 56 miles, from Paris. The 800-square-meter, or 8,600-square-foot, mansion was conceived on a grand scale, with large reception rooms and an entire floor devoted to the master and mistress suites. Broad river views can be seen from four of the house's five levels. The interior finishes were completed under the direction of Émile Boulangeot, a master cabinet maker. Floors in Versailles parquet, stone, marble and mosaics; marble fireplaces; oil landscapes over the White Salon's doorways, and four large crystal chandeliers are just some of the details. In the mid-1920s, the industrialist, married and the father of a young son by that time, added a 700-square-meter guest annex whose most attractive feature is an indoor Art Deco swimming pool of gold-flecked blue and green mosaic tiles. After Mr. Renault's death in 1944, his son Jean-Louis tried a few business ventures at Herqueville but they all proved unsuccessful. He sold off most of the estate's land bit by bit in the 1970s. Yet much of Mr. Renault's lavish château decor and avant-garde installations are still intact, thanks to the current owner, David Salamone, a Briton who is a former race car driver and movie stunt driver. "I bought the château and annex in 1998 as a 50th birthday present to myself," he said. The château had been empty for 30 years and the pool hadn't had water in it for almost 50 years. Water was running down the walls; windows and panes of glass in the doors were broken. Everything had to be redone: the plumbing, the electricity, and the restoration of the mosaic tiles in the pool and in the château's gallery. A vintage car collector and daredevil driver whose career highlight was the role of Dominic in the 1969 film "The Italian Job" with Michael Caine, Mr. Salamone was inspired by the Renault connection to the estate. Renovations took 10 years "and cost more than what I paid for the house," he recalled. Mr. Salamone has decided to put the property on the market and a friend who now owns the guest annex is doing the same. The two residences, linked by a windowed corridor, are surrounded by almost nine hectares, or 22 acres, of park and woodland. The asking price for the entire ensemble is €3 million, or $3.8 million. The château with about six hectares is €1.7 million; the annex with about two hectares is €1.3 million. The château has two entrances: On the park side, a small domed oval entry area has a powder room and one-person elevator; on the river side, a formal entry opens into a mosaic-tiled gallery. A marble entrance hall beyond connects to the double-height White Salon, named for its white paneling; a large dining room; a library/television room; and Mr. Renault's atelier.