A grand house dating back to 1810 with a guesthouse, a pool and 30 hectares of grounds that evoke Tuscany, on a hill two minutes from a spa town in Fr
A grand house dating back to 1810 with a guesthouse, a pool and 30 hectares of grounds that evoke Tuscany, on a hill two minutes from a spa town in France's beautiful Gers department.
The property lies in south-west France's Gers department, halfway between the cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse, which each offer an international airport. The estate is nestled in the countryside, yet it is only four kilometres from shops and amenities in the spa town of Castéra-Verduzan. The old episcopal town of Condom is just 30 minutes away by car. The city of Agen, with its high-speed train station, is 65 kilometres away. From there, you can get to Paris in 3 hours and 30 minutes by rail.
A small country lane that snakes through fields and groves leads to the estate. An electric wrought-iron gate, framed between tall stone pillars, takes you onto a long driveway lined with towering cypress trees. The whole property enjoys privacy at the top of a hill that overlooks a small valley. The estate covers around 30 hectares, including 15 hectares of landscaped parkland with Mediterranean plants and trees, as well as terraces and dry-stone retaining walls that evoke Tuscany. There are also two orchards, one of which is walled. At a lower level and set back, there is a swimming pool with a stone-tiled poolside area. The pool is 14 metres long and 7 metres wide. A flight of stone steps stretches up to large terraces upon which the grand Gascon house stands proudly, extended with a wing for guests in former annexes on the north side. A rectangular outbuilding with a caretaker's dwelling, workshops, a garage and a vast loft stands by a lane to a parking area. At the bottom of the plot, there is an agricultural storage building in which you can store tools for maintaining the parkland.
The grand Gascon houseThe edifice was built at the start of the 19th century. With a square plan, it has a ground floor and a first floor. It is crowned with a hipped roof of barrel tiles, underlined with a double-row génoise cornice. The house was renovated six years ago. It was considerably insulated then too. Its lime-rendered elevations are punctuated with many tall double-glazed windows, arranged symmetrically. In the middle of the eastern elevation, there is a wooden double door - the main entrance door. The layout inside is classically designed, with a vast dual-aspect hallway that connects to the rooms for everyday life on the ground floor. Old terracotta tiles cover the floor in most of the rooms. The kitchen has a floor of large stone tiles. The ceiling height reaches 3.80 metres. The restoration projects have kept the authenticity and upper-middle-class character of the home.
The ground floor
The kitchen has a dining area and a large fireplace with a timber mantelpiece. It has a floor of stone tiles and there is an extractor hood above a large range cooker. Exposed ceiling beams give the room a Provençal character. A scullery with tall wall cupboards is a practical addition and is logistically handy. The reception lounge has a remarkable Louis XV style fireplace. This lounge faces south-west. Via a small room from where steps take you to a terrace, the lounge leads to an office with wooden panelling. A fireplace with a wooden mantel is brought out by fine wall fabrics with damask patterns. Straight ahead from the hallway, beyond the wooden spiral staircase that rises up in the centre of the edifice, there is a dining room that leads out through a tall, arched, glazed doorway to an eastern terrace with a bread oven.
The upstairs
A broad landing connects to two sections. On the east side, there is a suite, designed by the current owners, with an office in the middle, a spacious bedroom with a grey marble fireplace on the right, and a bathroom with a shower, bathtub and lavatory on the left. This suite has an ...
