The watermill

The property’s four-sided tower dates back to the 12th century. Arrow slits shaped as crosses with flared tips dot its walls, which are built of squared-off rubble stone. This tower flanks the annexe, which partly dates back to the 14th century. The annexe has walls of brick and rubble stone, rendered with an old coating. Both of these sections are linked to the watermill via a shelter crowned with a gable roof like the main building. The watermill faces south-west and has two floors. It is shaped in an obtuse angle and looks down over the river. Its walls are punctuated with many windows and doors with wooden shutters and dressed-stone surrounds. At the front, the remains of a stone wall, roughly two metres high, form part of the bottom of the remaining facade where the front door stands, set back. This vestige may date back to the same era that the tower dates back to. It suggests that the building was later redesigned, probably in the 19th century. A covered, paved terrace runs along the house’s rear, which faces north-east. This terrace is punctuated with timber pillars that support its roof.

The tower

The square tower is built of rubble stone. It used to be the mill’s guard tower. A small doorway bears witness to this defensive purpose of the past – it is located high up on the least-exposed wall, which was doubtless once part of a building that was later demolished. The tower was built on the foundations of a building that dated back to a period before the 12th century. It has thick walls with arrow slits and no windows. These arrow slits bring natural light into the tower through three of its sides. A hipped dormer on the roof’s east side also brings light in. A narrow spiral staircase leads upstairs from the ground floor. The tower offers an indoor floor area of less than 6m² per level. It was the subject of research into a feature of medieval heritage in south-west France: fortified mills in the Middle Ages. Today, the tower could be given a new purpose.

The annexe

The annexe faces east. It was converted into a dwelling, part of which is still being renovated. The structure offers a separate liveable space, in addition to the mill’s rooms. On the ground floor, a studio apartment with a fitted kitchen adjoins a pantry and a boiler room. A flight of open-tread pinewood stairs leads up to a vast room that is currently used as an office. Two windows and two skylights fill this space with natural light. The conversion of this space could be continued. A bedroom and a shower room lie beside this top space. A lavatory completes the level. The whole annexe could be renovated further.

The grounds

The grounds surround all the buildings. They include an island of sorts, formed by the confluence of two streams behind the mill. A long footbridge crosses one of these streams and leads to the millrace. The owners carried out considerable work here to bring back the stream’s original bed, which had been diverted. On another part of the grounds behind the mill, there is a swimming pool set in a nicely designed poolside area. The pool is around 10 metres long and five metres wide. Behind the pool, trees of species that are endemic to the local area offer welcome shade and form a thick wall of vegetation.

In front of the mill, part of the lawn is embellished with more recently planted shrubs, which blend well with a few majestic ash trees and old willows. A backdrop of thick vegetation made up of trees, shrubs and wild climbing plants closes this outdoor space. A vegetable patch and a garden shed stand near the annexe. Not far from there, a recently planted orchard offers seasonal fruit to pick.