A remarkable property for events, accommodation and gastronomy in a corner of France renowned for its natural beauty and art of living, 40 minutes fro
A remarkable property for events, accommodation and gastronomy in a corner of France renowned for its natural beauty and art of living, 40 minutes from Toulouse and Montauban.
The property is nestled in the one of the most emblematic landscapes of France's Tarn department, which draws countless visitors. Here, in south-west France, you find the undulating expanses of Gaillac vineyards, the enchanting silhouettes of medieval hilltop villages and the Gothic architectural splendour of the city of Albi. The hillside patchworks of vines, woods and crops are dotted with bastides - small, fortified towns that were built in south-west France in the Middle Ages - and with warm-toned brick dwellings. The nearby river, discreet yet vital, has irrigated this region for centuries. The area combines a certain art of living, which includes colourful open-air markets and summer festivals, with a wealth of built heritage, an example of which would be Albi, a charming episcopal city listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can get to the property easily. Albi and the town of Gaillac offer shops for everyday needs, while the city of Toulouse with its international airport is just 45 minutes away.
Tucked away among vineyards and fields, the property stands out for its balance and harmony. A long driveway lined with trimmed hedges and punctuated with stone statues leads to a neatly designed court of honour, which draws your gaze to the main house. This edifice, a grand dwelling with a ground floor and first floor, has an even design and is long and rectangular in form. Its elevations combine brickwork with pale rendering. They are punctuated with a harmonious series of windows fitted with painted shutters and spaced out in a majestic arrangement. The house is crowned with a tiled roof that completes the edifice with understated elegance. Tall trees, including slender cypresses, age-old plane trees and imposing cedars, create a protective environment around the main dwelling. Spread out around the edifice are several outhouses, including a huge reception hall set back from the grand dwelling, a brick lodge and, opposite the latter, a building that is bathed in natural light and that lends itself to a range of possibilities. A former dovecote, converted into a dwelling, is more vertical in form and, in line with it, a workshop and boiler room edge the parkland. Among this series of buildings and natural spaces, the grand house stands proudly as the property's centrepiece - the jewel in its crown - and bears witness to a refined art of living that endures today.
The main edifice The main edifice is a token of 19th-century neoclassical architecture. Its design is symmetrical with brickwork paired with pale rendering. This showcases the even spacing of the windows. Its well-balanced design, punctuated with blue shutters, gives the whole place a bright, understated kind of elegance that is emblematic of grand rural homes in the Toulouse area.
The ground floor
An elegant central hallway with brick archways connects to all the rooms on the ground floor. The floor's stone tiles with their patina of age and the broad flight of stairs that leads up to the first floor underline the house's monumental character. In the left wing, there is a series of lounges. The first one, which has been turned into a bar, has kept an imposing brick fireplace with a timber mantelpiece and a ceiling punctuated with exposed beams. The room connects to a corridor that leads to a restaurant, so you can spend time here before or after a meal in a warm, friendly ambience. Next, there is a second lounge, which is cosier. It connects to a billiard room - a leisure space that naturally extends the reception rooms. In the right wing, a corridor leads to a library with a stone floor, bathed in an abundance of natural light from tall windows. ...
