Though she’s not Snow White, Wilna Wilkinson is a modern-day princess living a luminous life in this riverfront retreat. “Sometimes I have to pinch myself,” she admits in her lilting South African accent.
When she opens her door to us, the warmth of her heart and hearth is felt instantly. Wilna's walls and shelves are filled with paintings, books, and knick-knacks that tell of her years of traveling the globe, but there is no question the Château de Lalinde is her home. Though it looks as if she has lived here all her life, it was only two years ago that fate intervened and altered her life's course. During a holiday with friends who had moved in nearby, Wilna suggested they enjoy a nice dinner out. They immediately said, "We know the perfect little place on the river that you will love.’”
Their destination that evening was the Château de Lalinde and her friends were right—it was perfect and Wilna did love it. So much so that two years to the date of the dinner, she moved into the château she now calls home. Kismet.
“My being here is really serendipity,” Wilna says. “I had casually said to my friends that night as we dined under the stars ‘I would move here tomorrow if it were for sale.' The waiter must have overheard me because he said, ‘But Madame, the château is for sale.’” Even though she was not in the market for a castle (is anyone really?), Wilna explains that she was looking for a change. Read more about Wilna's fairy tale and the reasons she loves the Dordogne in: Tales From The Table: Dordogne Stories. due out this fall by Silverback Books.
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