private mansion for sale Ardèche, France

In the southern Ardèche, at Bourg-Saint-Andéol, a listed hôtel particulier from the first half of the 18th century, and its patio. This dressed-stone hôtel particulier shows great architectural subtlety. Richly ornamented facades surround its main courtyard, which borders the street and retains its original cobbles. A wrought-iron gate flanked by pilasters topped with urn finials opens from the street into the courtyard. Remarkable mascarons, no two alike, decorate the facade’s segmental-arched windows. Most of this substantial house is listed as a historic monument (Monument Historique). The facade has a classical 'Parisian-style' composition on two levels under a barrel-tile roof (entirely restored). A continuous stringcourse between the levels and a moulded cornice crowning the elevation emphasise this composition. The virtuoso design recalls François II Franque, the Franque family’s most famous architect. He belonged to the Royal Academy of Architecture in Paris, where he spent much of a career admired by Blondel and Soufflot. The house is thought to show how, just back from his stay in Rome, he blended Italian and French styles with skill. A single family now occupies the house. Historic-monument specialists directed a thorough restoration in the 2000s, to professional standards, and the result is faultless technically and aesthetically. The house currently has utility and technical rooms in the basement, a vestibule on the ground floor, and a six-room apartment (two of them bedrooms) on the principal level. Its top level has six large rooms and a small kitchen.