Property with pool and gardenAllemans (24)

Price :

$3,157,300

USD

Euro € EURAmerican Dollar ($ USD)British Pound (£ GBP)

Surface1,072 m²bedrooms11 land6.2 ha

In the magnificent setting of the Périgord Vert, near Ribérac, we invite you to discover this exceptional estate spanning 6 hectares of gardens, parks, woods and truffle fields. In the heart of this haven of peace, a completely renovated Carthusian monastery offers the perfect blend of modern comfort and authentic charm.
This property enjoys a privileged location, between two of France's Most Beautiful Villages: Aubeterre-sur-Dronne and Brantôme. The Val-de-Dronne region boasts rolling hills, windmills, Romanesque churches and forests. The region's rich architectural heritage, built mainly of white limestone, gives it a special luminosity. The area was also explored by English writer Edward Harrison Barker in the 19th century, who described his journey on foot and by canoe in his book ‘Two Summers in Guyenne’.
Local shops are just a 10-minute drive away. Bordeaux and its international airport can be reached in 1 hour 30 minutes and Angoulême TGV station in 50 minutes.
Description
In a commanding position at the top of a small hill with wonderful views over the neighbouring valley, away from the hustle and bustle yet just a short distance from a market town, the property spans approx. 6 ha (22 acres) of parklands, gardens, woods and truffle plantations, all of which are completely fenced in and protected from curious eyes.
Three entrances follow one another along a small road with very little traffic: a direct access to a meadow that serves as a parking area for customers, the main entrance via a courtyard of honour, and a service entrance for caterers and delivery staff. Finally, a gate is located along a communal road that marks the boundary of one of the two truffle fields on the main plot. It leads to a terrace at the back of a gîte and a pool area.
The main courtyard is surrounded by a high wall made of local white stone, whitewashed and covered with canal tiles. It comprises five passages, including the main entrance - an electric wrought iron gate supported by two stone pillars topped by a finial in the shape of a compass rose. The driveways lead to all the buildings that form a U-shape with the Charterhouse: a reception room, a lean-to for parking two vehicles, the gîte, a gym with sauna, and a former dwelling house. All the roofs, with two or four slopes, are of canal tiles, as is the mansion house with flat tiles; the walls are of rendered or pointed stone and the bays are predominantly straight.
To the south, in the same perspective as the main courtyard, a square, flower-filled, private garden lies behind the Carthusian monastery. It is entirely enclosed by a stone wall and flanked by a dovecote with a peppered roof. From a late-built veranda separating two terraces, a central path gently slopes up to a remarkable sculpted iron gate, raised above the low wall and leading to a set of steps. On either side of the garden is the swimming pool to the west, with its decking area and bar, and to the east a recently planted truffle orchard, a vegetable garden and a mobile home.
The main house
Built in 1698 on a rectangular, symmetrical plan, it perfectly matches Jean-Marie Bélingard's definition of a Périgord chartreuse: ‘a mansion, built between 1650 and 1850 or so, with a single ground floor, strongly barlong, featuring exterior architectural features and an interior finish that stands out from the ordinary, and demonstrating a certain art of living’. Its main facade features six straight bays with windows and French windows topped by dormer windows with pediments topped with finials.
Under a Mansard roof of flat and canal tiles, it has a layout that is typical of this type of architecture, centred on a room where the main entrance opens out and from which two side corridors lead to the other rooms. The facades are covered in light-coloured plaster. During the 20th century, a central extension with numerous windows was created on the garden side to enlarge the main room. Recent renovation works have involved converting the attic space into guest rooms, creating fenestration between the original dormer windows, filling in and insulating the crawl space, installing central heating, fitting new radiators to match the volumes to be heated, repairing and insulating the roof, overhauling the electrical system, creating a drainage system, and replacing the upstairs window frames with new, made-to-measure, double-glazed wooden joinery. To preserve the authenticity of the building, the single-glazed windows on the ground floor were retained.
The ground floor
There are six French windows leading to the ground floor, three on each side of the building. The main, central entrance welcomes guests directly into the privacy and comfort of the living room. In this room, which measures over 33 m², the floor is paved with stone, as is the veranda that extends it, bathed in light and open onto the terrace and garden. All the trades were involved in the interior renovation, which covered all the rooms and their various elements, apart from the single-glazed windows, which were retained at this level. To the east, a corridor leads to a kitchen with the original floor laid on a ladder. A cooking hob has been installed in the old brick and stone fireplace, and a central island gives structure to the vast room of almost 30 m². An adjoining dining room, measuring over 37 m², communicates with the kitchen, but also has independent access via the corridor and external patio doors. In this way, bed and breakfast guests do not disturb the occupants on the ground floor when they come and go via the staircase to the first floor, the level dedicated to them.
On the other side of the living room are the private areas: a study with its wooden bookcase, a vast master bedroom with its remarkably sculpted marble fireplace, and a bathroom with a walk-in shower, a re-glazed antique bathtub, a bidet and a toilet. A brick wall, uncovered during the works, has been exposed to reveal the architectural history of the building and to give this last room its own identity.
The first floor
A wooden and wrought iron staircase leads up from the dining room. Entirely dedicated to welcoming guests, it features a landing furnished with a bar and a reading area within a long corridor that leads to the five bedrooms on this level. The walls are insulated, and all the wide strip parquet flooring and skirting boards are in oak. Four bedrooms each have a view over the courtyard of honour and a private shower room with toilet. At the end of the corridor, the fifth bedroom, complete with wardrobe and shower room with bath and toilet, forms a luxury suite with triple views of the courtyard, garden and swimming pool. The exposed beams, parquet flooring and meticulous attention to detail go right down to the shower heads, inlaid in the wooden beams.
The function house
The first building in the courtyard of honour is a former barn, which was renovated in 2016 to create a single-storey reception room of over 130 m² with a seating capacity of 120. The roof structure and roofing were completely redone and raised by 70 cm, with a rain screen and insulation under the panelling. An anhydrite screed was poured on the floor, enabling heating to be installed under the travertine tiles. Two cast-iron radiators have been installed to make the room even more comfortable. The walls are of rubble stone. On the east gable, guests arriving from the parking area can enter directly through a large wooden bay with small panes. On the opposite side, an iron-gated wine cellar, sanitary facilities and a professional kitchen are located under a mezzanine overlooking the room. The wooden frames are double-glazed, and the building has its own electrical panel.
The carport
Between the reception building and the gîte, a canopy with a single-pitch tiled roof provides parking for two vehicles.
The guest house
Also overlooking the courtyard of honour, the guest house underwent major renovation work in 2016. In order to create an upper floor while preserving the original roof structure, it was decided to lower the floor by around 1.4 metres. Here too, an anhydrite screed was poured and underfloor heating installed under travertine tiles that are maintained every three years with a water- and oil-repellent product. All the wooden, double-glazed joinery was made to measure, some of it curved. A large through dining room includes a fully-equipped open-plan kitchen and a wooden staircase with a striking contemporary-style wrought-iron balustrade. Behind a large bay window is a terrace, also dug into the ground, which is accessible to people with reduced mobility. The ground floor also houses a TV lounge and a bedroom with en suite shower room and toilet. Upstairs, a mezzanine room leads to four bedrooms on either side and two shower rooms with toilets. Part of the building is dedicated to sport and wellness, with high-quality machines, a large television, a shower, an infrared sauna for five people and a technical room.
The annex
According to the date on the adjacent pillar, it dates from 1851. The building separates the main courtyard from the meadow used as a parking area. Under a hipped canal tile roof, it comprises a ground floor with a living area and an attic lit by windows. The large room, spanning more than 50 m² (538 sq ft), has been left untouched and features a fireplace and two bread ovens; the floor has been covered with a bush-hammered cement screed. A hallway leads to a shed with a dirt floor, as well as a boiler room with a concrete screed. In 2017, a pellet-fired boiler with high-resistance pink plasterboard insulation and a 9-t silo was installed to supply the main house, the gîte and the reception building, with underfloor heating for the latter two. The old oil-fired boiler and its 1,000-litre tank are still connected to the grid, if needed.
The dovecote
This is an integral part of the garden enclosure at the back of the house. Cylindrical in shape under a flat-tiled, pepper-pot roof, it rises to two levels accessible from the garden and has four flight platforms. A fairly straightforward restoration would enable a floor to be laid and the external straight staircase to be restored to its original purpose.
The swimming pool
Slightly off-centre in the grounds, with a commanding view over the edge of the woods, the swimming pool was designed to be luxurious, exotic and occasionally festive. Its imposing size of 15 x 6 m, with a Californian-style linear drop of around 0 to 1.9 m, required unusual foundations around 8 m deep with 300 tonnes of backfill and reinforced concrete posts.
It features a terrace in Brazilian wood (ipe), a beach of fine sand, a counter-current swimming system, night lighting, a bar with a shaded counter and fridge, a beer pump, a barbecue, palm trees and banana trees. During the season, maintenance of the salt treatment system is covered by contract.
The courtyard of honour
An avenue of lime trees crosses the courtyard from the gate to the entrance to the main house, separating the flowerbeds, which are laid to lawn. In addition, four sculpted pillars, supported by a coping, support a pyramidal ashlar roof in front of the main house. Together, they form a heritage feature with a patina of age that conceals and shelters a completely modern underground installation: a well, fed by a spring and recovered rainwater, linked to a 10,000-litre underground cistern and connected to eight water outlets for watering the garden.
The Garden
Covering an area of around 3,000 m2, the garden is tiered and slightly overhanging, with a view of the edge of the woods in the background. It is entirely enclosed by a low stone wall that provides a 180° view. From the ground floor of the house, three French windows lead to a stone-paved terrace where the grassy garden begins. A central pathway planted with flowers and trees provides a pleasant view down to a remarkable old gate, probably the remains of a former entrance. At night, spotlights installed at the foot of the trees create a luminous backdrop that highlights them.
The truffle plantations
The first harvests from the two truffle plantations are expected in the next few years: one of them, an old one, ‘regenerated’ by planting 70 trees, consists of downy oaks and chestnut trees over 35 years old, spaced 6 m apart; a new one, planted with 70 trees in 2016, is made up of chestnut, hornbeam, downy oak and holm oak.
Our opinion
Perfectly maintained and meticulously organised, the property appears to be a perfectly balanced combination, whether for a rejuvenating holiday or a festive get-together.
When the current owners acquired the estate in 2014, they fell under its spell and saw the architectural potential, quality of life and extraordinary value that the chartreuse promised. From a humble chartreuse with agricultural buildings, they have managed, at the cost of pharaonic works and uncompromising choices, to enhance the noble authenticity of the estate by bringing in the luxury, standards required for a top-of-the-range hospitality business. Today, we're proud to offer you this turnkey property with an eye to the future - a fantastic investment.
Land area 6 ha 16 a 20 ca
Main building surface area 379 m2
Number of bedrooms 11
Outbuildings 693 m2
of which converted 563 m2