A 15th-century chateau, its outbuildings, grounds and swimming pool, surrounded by 21 hectares of unoccupied land, along the outskirts of the Quercy r
A 15th-century chateau, its outbuildings, grounds and swimming pool, surrounded by 21 hectares of unoccupied land, along the outskirts of the Quercy region, twenty minutes from Brive-la-Gaillarde.
Located several kilometres to the south of Turenne, in one of the most beautiful villages in all of France, and in the northern most part of the Lot department, the property is nestled within the first hillsides of the former Quercy province and overlooks the switchbacks of a restricted rural road, protected by more than twenty hectares of forests and grazing pastures, the latter of which are surrounded by low shepherd's walls. Within the triangle formed by the three towns of Turenne, Collonges-la-Rouge and Martel, which spans the administrative borders of the Corrèze and Lot departments, this picturesque Occitan region extends towards the western part of the Périgord countryside, all the way to Sarlat-la-Canéda, forty minutes away by car.
Here, protected nature, renowned gastronomy and outdoor activities come together seamlessly for the pleasure of both nature and food lovers, while all shops as well as essential and medical services are less than ten minutes away in the nearest village. Sheltered from all disturbances, the property is also only a few minutes by car from the Brive-Vallée de la Dordogne airport with daily flights to Paris in one hour and 15 minutes, whereas Brive-la-Gaillarde's railway network is accessible in twenty minutes and the A20 and A89 motorways make it possible to reach Toulouse and Bordeaux in two hours and 2.5 hours, respectively.
In the 14th century, the lands owned by the de Chabannes family were transferred to Adhémar d'Aigrefeuille, Baron of Gramat, before the de Muzac family, whose patriarch was the King of France's sergeant-at-arms, took possession of the estate in the next century, pledging his allegiance to the Viscount of Turenne in the process. Through marriages and successive inheritances, the fiefdom was then passed down to the de Tournier family of Corrèze, followed by that of the de Materre de Chauffour family, which owned it until 1870. Left abandoned for nearly a century, the dwelling was given a new life in 1966 when a painter and his wife bought the chateau, nearly in ruins, and undertook a large-scale restoration.
From the wrought-iron gate, which indicates the estate's formal entrance, a gravel lane traverses a large swath of lawn and leads to the property's upper patio, the latter of which skirts the southeast exterior of the oldest of the three dwellings. Faithful to the origin of its name, the dwelling is made up of two adjacent edifices, which hug the land's natural slope: the older of the two is located above the more recent construction, whereas the two wings are partially connected via a third dwelling abutting a square tower-dovecote.
The upper edifice, from the late 15th century, is made up of a rectangular structure, the western part of which was completely reassembled with original materials recovered from the rubble after 1945, while a stately hexagonal tower, with a lauze slate tile roof, juts forward into the courtyard. In addition, mullioned windows, including two corner ones behind the dwelling, cadence its exteriors, whereas, in the interior corner of the second building, in all likelihood built in the late 17th century, a circular tower, completely rebuilt in 2025, is topped with a lauze slate roof.
This same dwelling also features a balcony with balusters, supported by a basket-handle arch, while a series of dormers, crowned with finials, punctate the various rooftops - long, conical, pavilion and hipped - that have been deftly blended together. Lastly, slate and barrel tiles as well as tall chimneys, gracefully coiffed, create an overall aesthetic and aerial composition, whereas the outbuildings - a Limousin-style barn and a former hunting lodge - provide the finishing touches for this remarkable and historical ...
