Exquisite Restored Farmhouse Property in Spectacular Countryside
Designer Restored House with Large Garden, Private Pool + Peace in La France Profonde
Le Puech Haut 4Beds Le Beffroi 3Beds Casbah 1 bed
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Set outside the tiny hamlet of Réal, in the commune of Roquemaure, among the green rolling hills of the western Tarn, Le Puech Haut (The House on the Hill) was until 1990 a working farm with a large traditional farmhouse, and separate outbuildings, barns, cowsheds and stables, all now restored. After five successful years of renting out the guesthouse ‘Le Beffroi’ only, the entire property including Le Puech Haut and ‘Le Beffroi’ is now available as a whole during high season July-August, sleeping up to 15. A much loved family home for 20 years, Le Puech Haut has been thoughtfully and elegantly renovated, and now offers seven bedrooms and six bathrooms, plus accommodation for guests' own staff. This family home is furnished, equipped and decorated not merely for holiday living, but for a sophisticated, labour saving and elegant lifestyle.
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| Rental Period | Per Night | Per Week | Per Month | Min. Stay (Nights) |
| 23 June 2012 - 8 September 2012 | £4500 | 14 |
Notes on prices
Price shown is for the property per week in UK Pounds, with a minimum let of two weeks. Services of English and French-speaking Manager-guardian couple included. Services of managers for cooking dinner are extra. Le Beffroi (3 bedrooms) is available on its own, outside the above period, see owners direct website property reference FR382.
Changeover day
Saturday to Saturday is the usual arrival and departure day.
Notes on accommodation
Le Beffroi has full under floor electric heating for those occasional chilly evenings in early spring and late summer. The upstairs tower room is particularly suitable for teenagers or children.
When the full property is let, a full four-hour daily cleaning and housekeeping service is included each morning from 9am to 1pm, six days a week. Additionally, dinner can be prepared and served for you at 8.30pm up to four days a week, with menus chosen from a selection of local produce (extra cost).
Outside
The Puech Haut, surrounded by wooded countryside and farmland, has an extensive garden, planted in the last seventeen years. There is a barbecue and plenty of outdoor furniture on all three terraces and around the pool deck. The heated saltwater swimming pool is 12x6m with a constant depth of 1.5 metres. It has a child-proof closing roof, and conforms to the obligatory safety regulations to the norm of NFP 90.
Coast/Beach
The Atlantic Coast at Biarritz (to the South West) and the Mediterranean coast (South) at Sete and Narbonne are each two to three hours drive away.
Golf
The area is renowned for its excellent golf courses and there are several close by, including the celebrated Palmola, home of the French youth champions, LasBordes at Albi, and Florentin, in the northern Gaillac wine country where you can lose your ball among the vines by the side of the rough.
Travel
By air from many UK departure points to Toulouse Blagnac airport, several low cost airlines fly to here or to the nearby Carcassonne airport. Enquire for further details.
By rail. The London Euro-Star rail link to Paris and then TGV service to Toulouse is a very quick easy way to travel. Enquire for suggestions on the various bargain trips available.
By road. The excellent autoroute road system can bring you to Montauban, within 25km of the Domaine. It's 8 to 9 hours drive from Calais.
Distances
Réal is approximately five kilometres from three interesting old market towns, St Sulpice to the South, Rabastens to the East and Bessières to the West. Each also has a supermarket. A tour of the three most famous medieval bastide villages, Cordes, Castelnau and Puycelsi, stopping for lunch, takes about four hours. Albi 40 minutes & Toulouse 35 minutes are the nearest big towns.
Further details
Toulouse, the fourth largest city in France with its vast red brick cathedral, nicknamed “The Pink City”, lies to the south and is just 30 easy minutes drive away; she is also one of France’s most modern cities and is reputedly a shopper’s paradise. But it is also the city that ruled most of southern France for many centuries and has an abundance of that history.
Albi. Birthplace of Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, a typical Tarn red brick town where the Catholic heresy took place and infamous inquisitions took place. This cornucopia of history and the upto the minute shops can be visited with an easy 25 minutes drive.
Le Puech Haut is a starting point for visiting the many ancient hilltop bastide villages, many built during the 100 years war between the French and English and usually on the opposite sides of the Tarn and the Dordogne Rivers facing each other. A days outing could be made to Sarlat, one the best preserved medieval towns in France or to Carcassonne, the perfectly preserved walled city to the east.
The two seas, the Mediterranean and the Atlantic are each just a couple of hours easy drive away.
This area is famous for its high quality food and wine and there are many small chateaus, restaurants and domains only to happy to let you taste their wares. Gaillac is the local wine appellation and wine has been produced here for more than a thousand years; some English viticulteurs are to be found here. Details of these are to be found are in the apartment literature along with our personal tried and tested recommendations.
For the children and the young at heart there are many theme parks in the area.
There are several first class golf courses locally. Fishing and canoeing are to be enjoyed here on the Tarn and Aveyron rivers. Windsurfing, sailing and other still water activities are to be tracked down on the many large lakes in the area.
This region is a walker’s paradise.
Booking notes
This is our family home so we let the whole property only for the months of July and August, for a minimum of 2 weeks at a time, Saturday to Saturday. Once you make a booking we will confirm it when the deposit arrives at our UK bank. We ask for a 20% deposit to confirm the booking, and then the remainder of the rental must be paid six weeks before arrival. In addition we ask for £250 refundable damage deposit which is returned after the inventory and houses are checked upon your departure.
Guest comments
"Book here for a holiday if you must but be prepared to never want to leave once you get there it is a beautiful property in a beautiful place... you have been warned! Fabulous place, fabulous surroundings, fabulous hosts you'll never want to leave... the holiday home you always wished you had, the only thing wrong with it is it belongs to someone else!" David Bowden, TV News Reporter.
“So often you see pictures advertising a place, and the reality you find upon your arrival is not what the pictures suggested. In this case, the direct opposite could not be more true: the pictures do not capture even a fraction of the beauty of the setting and of superb accommodations in store. This was a dream holiday that excelled even our dream. A fabulous location with serene privacy, outstanding views, and commodious living spaces, all set within one of the most gorgeous and fascinating regions of France. Andrew Hass (University Lecturer) and Jennifer Davidson.
Owner profile
About the owner
We are a retired English couple with a small apartment in London and a property in France, and both are let at different times of the year.
We bought Le Puech Haut (Owners direct FR768) in 1991 as an abandoned farmhouse, to escape for weekends from working in London and around Europe.
Since our retirement we've completed restoration of the barn, (now Le Beffroi, FR382) and now live at Le Puech Haut five or six months of the year, with a guardian couple to care for it in our absence.
While we're away at the house in France, we rent out a self-contained separate part of our flat in London, which appears as a separate entry E3007 on Owners Direct.
Year purchased: 1991
For booking and further information
Property Ref FR768
Contact Name:
Alasdair Sutherland
(UNITED KINGDOM) +44 7930356010
UK Mobile
Alternate Contact Details:
(FRANCE) +33 642584450
Manager at property
Owners Website: Click here
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Property Ref FR768
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