The old holiday atmosphere of a former hotel
on Aubrac plateau
Saint-Chély-d'Aubrac, AVEYRON midi-pyrenees 12470 FR

Location

Where the boundaries of the Aveyron, Lozère and Cantal departments meet, Aubrac plateau is bordered to the north-west by Truyère Gorges and the Cantal Mountains, to the east by the mountainous region of Margeride and to the south by the Lot Valley and the Grands-Causses plateaux.
The village is easily reached by road. The A75 motorway is 45 minutes away. Rodez airport is an hour away (flights to Paris, London and Brussels). Aumont-Aubrac train station, on the Paris-Béziers line, can be reached in 30 minutes; the village of Saint-Chély-d’Aubrac is 10 minutes away.
An immense plateau in the highlands, its wide-open spaces are the result of a tradition, several thousands of years old, of deforestation. A privileged spot from which to observe the starry sky and the flight of large birds of prey, the plateau is covered in a multitude of colours as of the springtime. In winter, it is transformed into vast stretches of white, reflecting a magical light. The “Bell of the Lost” is, however, a reminder that the winter climate can be particularly harsh here. The exceptional biodiversity of the territory has contributed to the creation of a regional nature park.

Description

The village, a landmark amongst the undulating vastness, is on the edge of the plateau at an altitude of 1,300 m. Established in the 12th century with the founding of a monastic hospital, the village became a fashionable tourist destination at the end of the 19th century, where visitors came, not to take the water, but to take whey. Six large hotels were built there, just prior to 1900, accompanied by the expansion of the sanatorium.
This old hotel, constructed in 1890 on the outskirts of the village, extends alongside the secondary road, from which it is separated by a small garden. Transformed to accommodate children’s holiday camps in the 1960’s, it still has the architectural characteristics of its original vocation. Some 30 metres long, its facade contains 35 rectangular openings over three levels. The roof, covered with lauze shale stone slabs, features dormers and skylights. The interior spaces comprise one impressively large room and, upstairs, two flats and seven bedrooms.
It is extended by a converted barn adjoining the gable which bears witness to the raising of animals on the land. The two buildings, with their rendered stone walls, are linked via a vestibule topped with a terrace.
The Way of Saint James, which takes the road to Espalion on the outskirts of the village, runs alongside the main facade. Behind the building, below a knoll planted with tall deciduous trees, the land offers an area that could be developed and a cabin, suspended amongst the branches of a tree. A grassy terrace extending the barn lets residents take advantage of an immense panoramic view. When the weather is good, the Cantal Mountain range can be seen on the horizon and, when it is clear, it is also possible to glimpse that of the Pyrenees beyond.

The old hotel

The hotel’s old main door, topped with an entablature crown ed with a cornice, is concealed behind a tree. The windows on the first two levels are fitted with wrought iron bars. One of the gable walls features a back, hanging, spiral stairway providing access to the three levels.


The ground floor
The glazed entrance door, housed in a canted corner, opens into a bright vestibule, featuring four wide openings. This first reception area is bordered, on one side, by a gable wall and the porch of the old barn, whilst on the other side a room, reached via two steps, is enhanced with four thin columns and flooded with filtered light.
A wide glazed door leads to the hotel’s primitive entrance hall and its large stairway, followed by a very bright, very large room. More than twenty metres long, the old games room is dotted with four narrow pillars. A robust wood-burning stove stands in its centre. Illuminated by windows and two glazed doors opening on to the garden, its ceiling is embellished with a lightwell. The main wooden stairway, freed from its stairwell, displays its undulating curves. With a continuous flight of steps making a full turn, its left stringer is fitted with metal railings, topped with a wooden handrail.

The first floor
The landing, forming a mezzanine looking down on to the ground floor, is protected by black metal railings. It leads to a flat and a bedroom. Spanning approx. 100 m², the flat takes up two-thirds of the floor. Its entrance hall opens into a lounge-dining room, heated via a wood-burning stove. This room precedes a kitchen followed by a bathroom. Two bedrooms open on to the living room, with which they share sea-rush matting, covering the floors. A spacious bedroom and its bathroom have been laid out at the other end of the floor. A metal, chest-high partition separates the two areas from one another. The neutral hues and the light-coloured wood lining the walls and partitions, combined with the bare floorboards and the presence of metal, bestow this area with an authentic character.
The second floor
The landing opens on to a lounge and a corridor providing access to five bedrooms. More than 20 metres long, it leads to the outside stairway. Four of the bedrooms are each fitted with an open-plan bathroom and three of them have private toilets. Separate bathroom and toilet facilities are, moreover, to be found at the far west end of the corridor: the unique bathroom, dating from the “colonies” era, still has wash-hand basins set on a chestnut wood vanity unit and tiling.
Bare wooden floorboards and metal are to be found here as on the first floor.

The third floor
With white-painted, sloping ceilings, this level is illuminated by dormers, on one side, and skylights, on the other. The flooring is made of pine wood. An anteroom separates a bedroom from a passageway leading to a second flat. Spanning the same floor surface area as that on the first floor, it is, nevertheless, laid out in a different manner. It comprises a lounge-dining room, a kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom, all taking up two-thirds of the floor. At the east end of the building, the biggest of the bedrooms is closed by double doors which, once open, give a view of the outside. The open-plan kitchen is reminiscent of that on the first floor. The other side of the landing gives access to a west-facing bedroom, with a bathroom.
The clarity that characterises the other floors is also to be found in these rooms with their sloping ceilings.

The barn

This barn, characteristic of Aubrac, reflects a collective memory, a know-how and a very strong regional identity. Once an essential feature of the region’s farms, its function was to accommodate cattle on the ground floor during the winter and to store the hay harvested in the springtime upstairs. The earth slope provided entrance for the haycarts and direct access to attic space from the outside. The symmetrical gable roof of this vast building, covered with rounded lauze shale stone slabs, is hipped at the gable ends.


The ground floor
Now located in the entrance hall, the porch of the gable wall is composed of a glazed door, flanked with dressed stone. It reveals a large floor surface area which houses a study, a kitchen, a lounge and a dining room. On the walls, thick fibres contained in the layer of plaster, a mixture of clay and hemp, create lovely sequences of light and shadow. This gives the area a natural appearance which contrasts with the industrial polished concrete on the floor and the presence of a wood-burning stove. The wooden ceiling is enhanced with robust beams. In the centre of the room, a wide, straight, open stairway goes upstairs. The atmosphere emanating from the area is reminiscent of that of the old hotel, characterised by the chiaroscuro.
The attic
The interior stairway and the old carriage door, now glazed, give access to the old hayloft. The wonderful, traditional, oak wood roofing framework, some 20 metres long, has been completely rebuilt in keeping with the original model: a large area courtesy of the high tie-beams. On the eaves wall, a small dormer gives a glimpse of the fields that extend over the plateau. Opposite the carriage door, a French window opens on to a terrace, looking down on to the main entrance. Once opening into empty space, it was intended to create a current of air during the beating of the cereal. The upstairs is extended here by a bedroom, a shower room and a smaller room, illuminated via a skylight.

Our opinion

This old hotel is in total harmony with this land of extremes. First of all, sober and austere, it is both warm and welcoming once across the threshold. The interior, steeped in tranquillity and serenity, gives the feeling that the plateau has invited itself inside. A subtle mixture of Scandinavian elegance with bare and authentic materials, this property gets its coherence from a charming variation of light and dark colours. Alternating vast rooms suited to a communal way of life and more private areas, its interiors are an invitation to perpetuate a thousand-year-old hotel and catering tradition, whilst offering great conversion potential.

Exclusive sale

990 000 €
Fees at the Vendor’s expense


See the fee rates

Reference 191530

Land registry surface area 1853 m2
Main building surface area 771 m2
Number of bedrooms 8
Outbuilding surface area 312 m2
including refurbished area 312 m2

French Energy Performance Diagnosis

Consultant

Ilan Libert +33 1 42 84 80 85

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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.

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