Location
In the north of the French department of Gers, some 40 minutes from Agen (TGV train station, A62-E72 motorway) and 10 minutes from an old bastide or fortified town with all shops and schools. This Gascony castle, on the outskirts of a hamlet, overlooks the fields, woods, hedges and copses that form the undulating Lomagne countryside. Toulouse is 70 minutes away (TGV train station, international airport).
Description
The castle
This castle spans four levels including a basement and an attic floor. Its architecture is notably characterised by two axes of symmetry: one corresponding to the median line along the south-west and north-east facades; the other diagonally opposed north-west/south-east axis featuring a tower at each of its ends. Said towers house bedrooms on each level. Each of these cosy bedrooms has a fireplace, in good working order, and all are pleasantly illuminated via daylight, coming from two different directions.
Two entrances provide access inside the building: the oldest one, in the lower sections, opens into what was the guard room in the Middle-Ages; the other is on the south-west facade, facing the valley.
The first floor, reached via a few steps, is above the south-west esplanade. It corresponds to what was called the “noble” floor in the 18th century. This floor includes a large stateroom, currently with monochrome painted panelling and doors. The scrolls above the doors are modern reproductions as is the polychrome decoration on the beams.
The layout on the first and second floors is identical, differentiated only by their decorative styles more or less resembling those of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The third floor, probably levelled off at the time of the French Revolution, was largely reconstituted in recent times in accordance with old masonry and carpentry trade practices. The aim was to recreate the top floor of a castle from the Middle-Ages: wooden galleries with a wall-walk. The layout is therefore that of an attic divided down the middle by a partition of pillars, cross-braces and rendered masonry filler.
The upper section of the keep has been converted into a library. With its fireplace and roofing framework, featuring horizontal framing with a single tie beam and truss lock plates, light comes in on three sides. Window seats have been set in the thickness of the walls.
The stable
A stable, spanning 79 m² with a 3.96 m high vault, constitutes the main outbuilding. An attic, in use as a workshop, can be reached via an outside stairway. The effective floor surface area of the upper section spans 40 m².
The open-sided farm shed
Backing on to a wall running alongside a little access street, is a farm shed (40 m²). It is open on three sides and has a Roman tile roof.
Our opinion
The road leading up to the castle is steep. A feeling of austerity initially dominates the first impression: separated from the village by a long building, the castle appears isolated on the edge of two worlds. And therein lies its charm linked to the surprise of discovering an almost baroque scenography with a 360° view of the surrounding countryside. A different impression comes from the inside of the house, which vibrates with bright light, highly controlled in its effects. The Age of Reason knew how to instil another vision of the world in this ancient building, without losing its character. There is nothing more astonishing than the way the shadow plays on the stairway or around the bend of a short corridor. Said Age of Reason has donated its own character, one of grace. Our contemporaries now have the chance to continue the work that was started eight hundred years ago, this vast conversion potential giving free rein to their imagination.
Ventes d'immeubles
À Paris et en Ile-de-France
Prix de vente au-delà de 600 000 euros 5% TTC*
Prix de vente de 400 000 à 600 000 euros 6% TTC*
Prix de vente de 200 000 À 400 000 euros 7% TTC*
Prix de vente jusqu'à 200 000 euros 9% TTC*
Honoraires à la charge du Vendeur
En Province
Prix de vente au-delà de 500 000 euros 6% TTC*
Prix de vente jusqu'à 500 000 euros 30 000 Euros TTC* (forfait)
Honoraires à la charge du Vendeur
Expertise
Avis de valeur argumenté : 1 800 Euros TTC*
Expertise à partir de 2 400 Euros TTC*
Les tarifs des expertises sont communiqués sur devis personnalisé établi sur la base d’un taux horaire moyen de 120 Euros TTC*
*TTC : TVA incluse au taux de 20 %
Reference 664674
Land registry surface area | 2 ha 76 a 9 ca |
Main building surface area | 862 m2 |
Outbuilding surface area | 155 m2 |
My favorites
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.