Overview
In the heart of a beautiful Gascon village close to Saint Clar and Lectoure, this fine stone property looks south to the mountains with an impressive view of the Pyrenees.
The property comprises 4 bedrooms, 2 reception rooms, a dining-room, beautifully fitted kitchen with doors to the garden, an impressive cellar and 2nd floor attic space.
With high ceilings, symmetrical rooms, an elegant central hallway on both the ground-floor and first-floor, this property is the epitome of an elegant 18th century village house in Gascony at its finest.
Let’s take a look at the property in more detail :
From the outside the property is elegant and appealing, in beautiful white stone, being both symmetrical and eye-catching.
The ground floor
A wooden door opens onto a long Gascon hallway, which runs the length of the house, drawing one’s eye to the garden at the end, where sunshine floods into the house from the south.
On each side of the hallway the rooms are spaced symmetrically. The ceilings are high. The old terracotta floors have a lovely sheen to them which is instantly appealing.
The stairs to the first floor sit half way along the hallway behind glass doors.
Overlooking the street, we open the door to a dining-room on one side of the hallway and a downstairs library/sitting room on the other. Both rooms are similar in size. Both have high ceilings and double windows. The library has terra cotta floor tiles, the dining-room an old wooden floor.
The kitchen is a gorgeous room. Accessible from both the dining-room and via the central hallway, this is more than just a kitchen, but the heart of the house, with a vast stone fireplace, which is clearly used by the family in the winter months. With a terra cotta/brick chimney breast, the fire is the central feature of the room. Perfect for winter months, with the advantage of being filled with light throughout the year, in summer months a door opens on to the garden from where, in an elevated position, a rich tapestry of fields stretches across the horizon as far as the eye can see, providing a colourful and living tapestry to enjoy whatever the season.
The kitchen has a range of modern units, all with a soft green hue, that marries perfectly with the smooth patina of the terra cotta floor tiles and the red brick of the fireplace.
At the far end of the hallway, there is a second reception room, which also enjoys views to the south. A door at the far end of this room opens onto a small room which currently houses a sink and the family’s washing machine. (Nb : there is plenty of space in the rest of the house for the washing machine should one choose to convert this space into a storage area).
On the ground floor, opposite the stairs to the first floor, there is a family shower-room.
The first floor
The first floor hallway is a mirror image of the hallway on the ground floor, with the added advantage of being even higher above the southerly views to the Pyrenees.
On the first floor there are four vast double bedrooms, two overlooking the village, two overlooking the garden. Each of these rooms enjoys high ceilings and has either wooden or terra cotta floor tiles. All of the rooms are spacious, light and characterful.
The master bedroom (above the kitchen) opens onto a magnificent bathroom clad with travertine tiles, which comprises both a bath-tub and a transparent glass shower cubicle. This bathroom can be closed off and reserved for the master bedroom, or also remain accessible from the hallway.
The second bedroom overlooking the garden has an ensuite shower-room, directly above the laundry room.
The attic and the cellar
This property contains a vast amount of useable space down below the main house and up above under the eaves.
The old cellars are perfect for storage, and very much a testament to the past.
The vast attic above the main house could theoretically provide an opportunity to develop more bedrooms on second floor. (Nb : planning permission may be required).
The garden
What this garden may lack in size, it compensates for it beauty. Raised high above the village, this is a beautiful spot to dine, and one which provided a bird’s idea view of the world, from a very magical vantage point.