bâti de caractère

English translation: land whose buildings are full of character

09:42 Jan 21, 2013

French to English translations [PRO]
Tourism & Travel

French term or phrase: bâti de caractère

Hi all

This is in reference to the 'Haras national de Lamballe'. 'un domaine bâti de caractère'

TIA

Lisa

Richardson Lisa KudoZ activity Questions: 56 (4 open) (1 without valid answers) Answers: 54 France
Local time: 20:01

English translation:land whose buildings are full of character

Explanation:
I'd need more context, but that is the general meaning and might help you get your head round it.
The "domaine bâti" refers to buildings on the land, site, thus domain/land/site/park etc. You have to consider "domaine bâti" as a conveying one idea and "de caractère" as the qualifier. The buildings are full of character, are charming etc.

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Note added at 1 hr (2013-01-21 11:16:29 GMT)
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You send to play around with it, as one way or another, it does describe the whole site or domaine which I sometimes see left in French in italics - so chic! It kind of rolls two into one : the whole site is full of character, charm etc; and the mention that the land has buildings upon it, included in the description, means that they contribute to its character. The properties could include a manor house, stables etc which have quite a lot of history. (I've visited the Haras de Hennebont which is quite charming to visit for theses reasons).

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Note added at 22 hrs (2013-01-22 07:54:56 GMT)
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Being a bit cheeky, I'm going to make a new suggestion built on a combination of what I find useful from other suggestions. I like "estate" (credit to Equinimod) and AT's mention of "stud farm" make me think of "breeding stables".

Personal things I like and don't like :
- I don't like "characterful" and prefer "full of character". It's longer but it sounds so much more natural in (British) English.
- I'm not wild about "stud farm" here but prefer "breeding stables", more chic and more in keeping with the image of the Haras Nationaux.
- I like "estate" as it conveys the exact idea of "domaine".

So, "in context, "un domaine bâti de caractère" could be rendered by "breeding stables on an estate with lots of character".

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Note added at 22 hrs (2013-01-22 07:57:36 GMT)
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All in all, that makes for a more lengthy solution but one which I consider has a natural flow in English and avoids the clumsiness of "characterful", even if there are 3 million hits on Google with "characterful+co+uk", there are 8 million with "full of character+co+uk".

Back to the ironing...

Selected response from:

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 20:01

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer

Summary of answers provided

4 +2

land whose buildings are full of character

Nikki Scott-Despaigne

built in a unique architectural stykle

Patricia Urrutia

a collection of characterful buildings

philgoddard

Built on character

Lara Barnett

unique

Wolf Draeger

a centre/resort full of /brimming with character/built with character

AllegroTrans

stylish developed estate/land

Euqinimod (X)

4 -2

A lot of people

Salih YILDIRIM

3 -1

distinctive development plan

gkshenaut

Summary of reference entries provided

in context

writeaway

Discussion entries: 6

Answers

3 hrs confidence:

a centre/resort full of /brimming with character/built with character

Explanation:
I think a short sharp phrase is appropriate here

AllegroTrans
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 27

3 hrs confidence:

stylish developed estate/land

Explanation:
An estate can refer to an extensive area of land and buildings developed for various purposes.

Euqinimod (X)
Local time: 20:01
Works in field
Native speaker of:

French
PRO pts in category: 12

7 hrs confidence:

a collection of characterful buildings

Explanation:
It's primarily the buildings that are being talked about, rather than (say) the grass or trees, so I think you're justified in ignoring the word "domaine".

philgoddard
United States
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 39

9 hrs confidence:

Built on character

Explanation:
"An area/district built on character"

The term "built on.." is often used to describe how over the use a quality has characterised the work that has been done it. For example, as in the expression "based on..."

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Note added at 9 hrs (2013-01-21 19:05:42 GMT)
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Sorry typo:
Main text should read "...how over TIME a quality has characterised..."

Example sentence(s):

"Silk Road Initiative – Future BUILT ON Tradition"
"But is it fair to say that the city was BUILT ON slavery? At its height research shows that the trade accounted for around 8% of the port’s total traffic by value, meaning that it was amongst the lowest margin trades in which merchants could invest."

Reference: http://www.undp.org.cn/projects/43451.pdf
Reference: http://www.tompaver.com/a-city-built-on-slavery/

Lara Barnett
United Kingdom
Local time: 19:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 12
1 corroborated select project
in this pair and field

9 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -2

A lot of people

Explanation:
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lamballe_Gestüt.jpg

Salih YILDIRIM
United States
Local time: 14:01
Works in field
Native speaker of:

Turkish

18 hrs confidence:

peer agreement (net): -1

domaine bâti de caractère distinctive development plan

Explanation:
Using google, I found the term “domaine bâti” used in parallel with terms such as “domaine public”, “domaine social”, and “domaine environnemental”.
http://blog.quartier-etang.ch/pages/Domaine-bati
I also found that it was used to indicate a kind of overall plan for development of a terrain, as opposed to other aspects of development. In other words, it might be something that a planning commission (US) might produce.
http://books.google.com/books?id=6yp9oa2y8LEC&pg=PA333&lpg=P...
This is not my area at all, but it may be that there is a specific meaning of the term “domain bâti” as it applies to a piece of land that is different from the sum of the meanings of the two words.

gkshenaut
Local time: 11:01
Native speaker of:

English

1 hr confidence:

peer agreement (net): +2

domaine bâti de caractère

land whose buildings are full of character

Nikki Scott-Despaigne
Local time: 20:01
Works in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 24

Grading comment

Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

1 day 4 hrs confidence:

unique

Explanation:
I read "de caractère" as meaning individual, special or unique. I doubt it's referring to the buildings (how special can a stud farm's buildings be?), but rather to the entire estate.
One could perhaps also refer to the estate's unique spirit. Would require rewriting in En.

Wolf Draeger
South Africa
Local time: 20:01
Works in field
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8

1 day 7 hrs confidence:

built in a unique architectural stykle

Explanation:
caractére has to do with style or uniqueness. It is describing the unique quality of the buildings. Focus on the word caractere which means style in this case. bati means constructed or built. As an adjective. Constructed in a unique architectural style or with a unique architectural style.

Reference: http://www.collinsdictionary.com
Reference: http://www.larousse.com

Patricia Urrutia
Colombia
Local time: 13:01
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

Spanish

Reference comments

36 mins peer agreement (net): +3

Reference: in context

Reference information:
Derrière les portes d’un domaine bâti de caractère (1825), planté d’arbres centenaires, l’instructive visite guidée du Haras national de Lamballe (1h30) vous introduit dans l’univers du cheval d’hier et d’aujourd’hui.

http://famille.tourismebretagne.com/s-amuser/toutes-les-acti...

writeaway
Specializes in field
Native speaker of:

English
PRO pts in category: 32

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bâti de caractère

English translation: land whose buildings are full of character

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