fermette

My home is a beautiful south facing, large, old, stone farmhouse, attached at one end to the home of my french neighbours who own and run the existing family run , mixed farm.

It is situated in the stunningly beautiful Indre region of Central France in the Creuse valley at the southern end of the Brenne Natural Park and is part of a small hamlet of around 6properties surrounded on all sides by rural countryside, forests, riversand lakes making it an ideal location for walking, fishing, cycling or simply relaxing. There are many chateaux and beautiful mediaevaltowns to visit in the immediate area. The local village is Prissac (8 km) which has an excellent bakers (shepasses three times a week by van) a butcher (he comes round on Saturdays) a general grocers, garage, bar and a chemist. The nearest doctor, dentist and hairdresser are also there. The nearest large town is the beautiful Argenton-sur-Creuse (15 minutes) St Gaultier is about the same distance. The mediaeval town of St. Benoit du Sault , voted one of the most beautiful in France, is about 20 minutes away. The city of Chateauroux, (35 minutes) affords all the cultural delights of ancient and modern France. You'll find all the large shops and commercial precincts necessary whilst the old city hosts many art galleries,theatres,museums and gardens. The main A20 is around 15 minutes away. The airports at Limoges and Poitiers are both just over an hour away, makingthe propertyrural but easily accessible.

This beautiful house would make a fabulous family permanent /holiday home, or could be used as B&B/gites.

It has telephone and satellite connected which are INCLUDED in the sale.

Downstairs there are three rooms and a huge space which was the old barn and stable. These rooms consist of a large bedroom (20m2) with ensuite bathroom, kitchen/living/dining room (26.5m2) and a smaller room (15m2) which houses my dogs/tools/budgie and pantry !! I had a beautiful oak doorway custom made for this room which now leads to what was the old ecurie/stable(17.5 m2) and gives access to the rear of the property and garden. The stable has a beautiful cut stone archway and would make an excellent entrance hall/mezzanine. There is additional space (12.5m2) at the very end of the house where at present I store my wood! You could easily make three or more rooms just in these two areas.

The end wall was rebuilt in breezeblock around 12 years ago and available to use from the ruins of the piggeries in the yard next door, is the same stone that the house is built from. It could be used to face that wall if required. There are also 7 handcut stone doorways in these ruins and the stones could be used to build a stone staircase from the lobby up to the mezzanine. It is almost impossible to find this stone these days and would cost a small fortune to transport. It's literally available on the doorstep!

The bedroom and kitchen have been painstakingly renovated to show the beautiful exposed stone. The bedroom also has exposed beams. There are two stone fireplaces (one functioning and one not) It would be easy to open the one that isn't by putting a small chimney in the front roof. The house has clay "tomettes" throughout, which are fantastic for holding the heat in the winter and keeping the house cool in the summer. It has electricity and mains water, at present no fosse septique but it is basically habitable.. I've been living here for4 years! I have had a devis for the cost of the fosse and that would be around 4,000 € fully installed.

The roof was renewed shortly before I bought the house. There is no staircase,and upstairs, which apart from being cleared out,has not been touched since I arrived. It is already separated into three rooms which correspond in size to the downstairs rooms, apart from the one over the bedroom which is slightly smaller. There is a stone batiment (14.5m2) which is attached to the back of the house and once rebuilt, could be integrated by another entrance door into the main property, as it is included on the Cadastral Plan. To the side of the property is a small area of land probably ideal to install the fosse septique and at the rear is an enclosed back garden(approx. 700m2) including fruit trees.

I also own, available to buy separately or with the house, three lots of land which directly face the house over the lane.The first two parcels of this land ( 3,600 m2 ) have a CU (basic permission to build a detached house) on them which is valid until June 21st 2009. The other parcel (6,400 m2 ) is classed as "pré" and "non constructible". Combined they measureone hectare i.e.10,000 m2. The three lots of land have recently beenvalued at over 30,000 euros. Electricity poles are already situated on the land so it would be very simple to connect and the water supplypasses alongside the lane.

Anyone with horses could also make good use of the land. There are numerous fruit trees in the orchard.

If you're looking for rustic and relaxed.. Look no further !!

Please do not hesitate to contact me for further photos/information.