A stately and immense 19th-century neoclassical-style dwelling, its outbuildings and 2.6-hectare grounds near Villeneuve-sur-Lot - ref 943406
A stately and immense 19th-century neoclassical-style dwelling, its outbuildings and 2.6-hectare grounds near Villeneuve-sur-Lot.
Within the former south-western province of Guyenne, the Lot-et-Garonne department boasts a strategic position between Bordeaux and Toulouse, where orchards, vineyards and market gardens flourish within this fertile climate formed by the confluence of the Lot and Garonne Rivers. With cobblestone alleyways, shady squares and half-timbered dwellings, the medieval city of Pujols, selected as one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France and perched up on a rocky outcrop overlooking the Lot River Valley, is only three kilometres from Villeneuve-sur-Lot, a dynamic, midsize city. In addition, the property is located in an easily accessible residential neighbourhood, while Agen, with its high-speed rail station and airport with connections to Paris-Orly, is 30 kilometres away, Bergerac is 45 kilometres away and, lastly, the Bordeaux and Toulouse airports are both one hour away.
This eye-catching property is composed of a stately manor house constructed in 1857 according to the standards in place for 19th-century manor houses. Belonging to the same family for more than six generations, from above, the dwelling, located in the middle of the property, blends in harmoniously with its surrounding tree-filled estate of 2.5 hectares, the latter of which is bordered to the north by a road and shielded from view thanks to a ring of multi-century trees. The property is accessible from a gate that opens onto a gravel drive, curving gracefully all the way to the manor's main façade where it widens to create a formal courtyard, before circumventing the building in order to provide access to the outbuildings.
With an orderly exterior cadenced by delicately sculpted vertical rows of windows and ashlar stone quoins, this rectangular three-storey main building, completely symmetrical, was constructed out of local limestone, while its main façade, facing south towards the garden, is organised around a curved double staircase, which leads to a patio safeguarded by a stone balustrade. With a barrel tile hipped roof, adorned with decorative pediments and carved stone chimneys, the main dwelling faces, to the north, a group of outbuildings that includes an ancient open-air barn, independent accommodations in need of a renovation, a chicken coop and a tobacco drying shed. Classically composed and highlighting the manor's impressive architectural coherence, which has been carefully conserved over the centuries, the property's verdant grounds contain a stream and a waterfall to the east, an immense meadow encircled by a walking path and a row of trees to the south, while a well bears witness to the property's original hydraulic autonomy.
The Manor HouseThe house, emblematic of provincial neoclassical-style architecture from the 19th century, stands out from more ordinary constructions from that same time period thanks out to its remarkable appearance and execution. With understated, high-quality ashlar limestone exteriors, its foundation level is decorated with subtle rusticated stonework in order to provide the whole with a solid visual underpinning, which is, in turn, accentuated by the building's quoins. As for the house's decorative elements, they are concentrated around its windows and doors with moulded surrounds displaying sculpted keystones, while a stringcourse highlights the separation between the manor's first and second floors. Methodically cadenced and strictly adhering to a height-width ratio characteristic of classical architecture, the dwelling's first-floor windows, some of which have six panes each and are topped by small fanlights, provide ample sunlight for the manor's elegant interiors, whereas upstairs, the windows, although slightly lower, repeat the same composition, creating a ...
