Landships II

Would this serve as an example of what you are looking for?
http://la-lorraine-se-devoile.blogspot.com.ar/2008/08/chteau-mdival-de-jaulny-meurthe-et.html

Take into account that the "country nobility" of France was less wealthy and rather impoverished, because of the less importance in polithical and economical affairs, a situation quite different from the British traditional country lords. Take into account that the effect of the Revolution of 1789 wiped the "Ancient Régime" in most of the country, and that provincial rich people were less related to chateaus and more related to tradespeople and a less isolated town house.
A good example of a powerful small-town-landowner can be seen on the movies (from the mid 80s) "Manon des Sources" or "Jean de Florette", which, while describing a period of history slightly later than 1918, will give you the look of the dilapidated farmsteads that were scattered on the country, and the relatively plain town mansions were the owners lived.
Another, perhaps less connected, useful movie to see how a country house looked like, is a relatively new movie starring Russell Crowe "A Good Year", where they show a large mansion with vineyards. None of these movies show a "medieval" building, but I doubt that medieval houses were so steady as in Britain and/or Germany in the French countryside.
A more modest farm house (but very pretty and well kept) can be seen on "A long Dimanche de Fiançalles", a rather well researched movie set in the 20s.

Hope this helps!

Thanks!  The idea was to make something that represented the dying order, just as the Bastille represented the old French pre-1789 regime.  If I read correctly, the Bastille structure served a number of purposes over its lifetime before becoming a prison in the end.