A 48-hectare estate with a large house, a pool, a guesthouse and a cluster
of buildings to restore, tucked away in woods in France’s Périgord area
of buildings to restore, tucked away in woods in France’s Périgord area
Villefranche-du-Périgord,
DORDOGNE
aquitaine
24550
FR
Location
The Périgord Noir area, between the River Dordogne and the River Vézère, is one of the best-kept secrets of south-west France. The property lies near the town of Villefranche-du-Périgord. It is tucked away in the hollows of wooded hills that road maps barely mention. Sarlat-la-Canéda was the medieval capital of France’s Périgord area. This large town is only around 30 kilometres away. The city of Périgueux, the administrative centre of France’s Dordogne department, is less than an hour away. By car, you can also reach the city of Bordeaux in two hours and the city of Toulouse in two and a half hours. From the train station in the local town of Souillac, 40 minutes away, you can get to central Paris in around three hours by rail. Brive Dordogne Valley airport, 100 kilometres away, offers regular flights to Paris and European cities. You reach the main house via a private drive that runs through the woods.
Description
From a bird’s-eye view, this property looks like an old map. The most extensive section of its 48 hectares of unbroken land is a forest of oaks and chestnuts. The rest of the estate is made up of natural meadows. A fence designed to protect the homely space from wildlife demarcates a three-hectare plot around the buildings. A private lane lined with vegetation leads to this plot. The traditional design of the main house is typical of the Périgord style. It offers a 220m² floor area, spread out over a garden-level floor, a ground floor and a first floor in the roof space. Its facade of local stone faces south and leads out to a series of stone terraces that follow the slope of the land. The house is crowned with a steeply sloped roof of flat tiles. A square tower with a pyramidal roof recalls grand historical houses. This tower was added to give the house’s first owners a higher status. The ground floor has two lounges and a bedroom. The top floor has a bathroom and two bedrooms with sloping attic ceilings. On the garden-level floor, there is a kitchen with a door that leads straight out to a terrace, a little further down from which a swimming pool lies. A heating oil boiler heats up the house. The windows are single-glazed. A flower-dotted garden, which has been well maintained, extends around the buildings. Further down, there is a swimming pool set in a stone terrace. Its technical installations room is housed inside an old dry-stone hut crowned with a roof of stone tiles. Further up on the plot, there is a stone barn with a floor area of around 100m². It has an upstairs level too. This structure only has three elevations. Its fourth side is open, like a viewpoint that draws your gaze out over the surrounding countryside. Higher up, there is a stone guesthouse with a floor area of around 100m². Its interior has been converted like an open-plan apartment. A fireplace stands against one wall. A garage for two vehicles adjoins the house. Its doors face the private lane. On the east side, in the woods, there is a cluster of five stone buildings, arranged around a well. This cluster of buildings represents the other dimension of the property. The cluster is a former farm complex that needs to be renovated entirely. Until relatively recently, the main house in this cluster was still inhabited. However, the barns and outbuildings here have lacked roofs for a long time.
The large house
The main house has a garden-level floor, a ground floor and a first floor in the roof space. Its shape is well proportioned. Its facade is symmetrical in design. In the middle of it, an entrance door at the top of a flight of steps leads inside. This front door is framed between tall, small-paned windows with wooden shutters. Window surrounds of dressed stone punctuate the whole dwelling. At the back, a south-east-facing series of terraces, staggered at different heights, forms a link with the natural surroundings. At the foot of the house’s south-west end, there is a terrace edged with a low stone wall. Above this terrace, up on the first floor, there is a covered balcony.
The garden-level floor
The garden-level floor has a vast kitchen with a spacious dining area. This is the house’s centrepiece. The room is practical and modern. It is showcased by an abundance of natural light that floods in from several windows, including a glazed door that leads out onto two terraces – one on the south-west side, which faces the swimming pool, and one on the south-east side, which faces the forest. There is a monumental fireplace with an old oven and a roasting spit. On this same garden-level floor, there is a utility room, a boiler room and a cellar.
The ground floor
The main entrance door leads into a vast room, which is both a reception space, a lounge with a fireplace and a transitional hall. It connects to an old bedroom, a lavatory and a reading room with bespoke furniture. This ground floor also leads straight out onto the south-east terraces.
The first floor
The first floor has sloping attics roofs. Up here, there are two large bedrooms, a bathroom and a separate lavatory. One of the two bedrooms leads out onto a covered balcony with an enchanting view over the pool and valley.
The garage
A garage adjoins the guesthouse. It has two doors and can house two vehicles, as well as different pieces of equipment.
The terraces
There are several stone terraces built around the house. Some of them are edged with low walls. Together, they offer a total floor area of around 100m².
The guesthouse
This dry-stone edifice is like an open-plan apartment inside. There is a vast reception space with an open-plan kitchen that a single step takes you down to. There is also a shower room and a separate lavatory. Overhead, a mezzanine floor, where a bedroom lies, looks down at the reception space. There is a large fireplace in the east wall. The space is bathed in natural light from large windows, including a glazed portion at the top of the south wall.
The barn
The stone barn is impressive in size. One side is entirely open. It is currently used as a workshop. It could easily be repurposed.
The swimming pool
The swimming pool is 10 metres long and 5 metres wide. Its deep end is two-metres deep and its liner is new. Beside the pool, there is a stone terrace with a low retaining wall made of the same stone and that ensures safety and follows the slope of the land. From this hillside terrace and pool, the vista reveals the valley. Uphill, your gaze is drawn back towards the house, up from clusters of flowering plants of different shades.
The cluster of buildings
The cluster of buildings – a former farm complex – is made up of five stone structures. Some of them are in a rather poor state with roofs lacking and elevations partly demolished. The small annexes once housed farm animals. The whole complex needs to be fully restored, yet it has authentic charm and enjoys absolute calm.
Our opinion
There are some places you do not look for on purpose. Sometimes, a home can come to light as if by chance: an ideal haven that was waiting for you all along. Here, in this bucolic refuge of pure calm, there is no unwanted noise and no neighbours. There are only unspoilt views all around you. Henry David Thoreau would have doubtless found this property conducive to inhabiting time differently. The traditional house of yellow-ochre stone calls for a renovation. Yet this delightful dwelling already promises a solid structure in good condition with rooms that are generously sized. Towards the east, the cluster of buildings, a former farm complex, calls for a much more thorough renovation. Indeed, it requires a complete restoration, but one that would open up all kinds of exciting possibilities, including gîtes, workshops, farming activities or a self-sufficient home. You may acquire the property either in its entirety with its 48 hectares and all its buildings or in a reduced form with just 20 hectares and without the eastern cluster of buildings. These two options represent two ways of embracing the same dream.
Reference 871745
| Land registry surface area | 48 ha 55 ca |
| Main building floor area | 220 m² |
| Number of bedrooms | 3 |
| Outbuildings floor area | 720 m² |
| including refurbished area | 95 m² |
French Energy Performance Diagnosis
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the website: www.georisques.gouv.fr
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NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
