Bijou Languedoc house on village square

• 24 miles from the Med
• 90 minutes from the Spanish border (and Pyreneean ski resorts)
• All mains services - including broadband
• Village shops - including pharmacy, post office, bar etc.
• Easy access from several airports

• Bedrooms: 1
• Village
• Terrace

• Condition - Restored / Habitable
• Roof - Good Condition
• Drainage - Mains
• Water - Mains
• Heating - Electric
• Electricity - Mains

This delightful little house is in a village called Cruzy, which is roughly equidistant from Narbonne, Beziers and Saint-Chinian: Each of these towns is about half an hour away by car - as is the (Mediterranean) sea. This part of France is well served by airports - Beziers (40 minutes by car), Carcassonne (1 hour), Perpignan (1 hour 5 minutes), and Montpellier (1 hour 10 mins). Toulouse and Girona are each about 2 hours drive. There are regular "low cost" Ryanair fights to Beziers from Luton and Bristol - and now a FlyBe service from Southampton:  The airport "navette" runs to the bus station in Beziers town centre - from where there is a regular service to Cruzy, with a bus stop "outside the door".  You can get direct flights to Carcassonne and Montpellier from other parts of the UK.

The village of Cruzy expanded in the early 1800's with the growth of the wine industry - Languedoc now being the most prolific wine producing area of France: The village is typical of the region, being surrounded by vineyards and olive groves, interspersed with almond and fig trees. According to official figures the department of Herault gets 300 days of sunshine a year;  the climate is dry and the summers are hot.  This little house directly overlooks the central village square - with its plane trees and fountain:  From the first floor terrace at the front you get a birds eye view of all that goes on.

Many villages in France have few, if any, shops these days but with a population of only 940 Cruzy is fortunate in having such a good selection of shops and local facilities - this being is one of the reasons prices here remain stable.  There is a boulangerie, a boucherie, an epicerie, a pharmacie, a cafe/bar, a post office, a hairdresser, and even a museum - as well as a delightful church dating from the 13th century, and of course a cave co-operative.  All of these facilities are less than 200 metres from the front door - the boulangerie being the nearest, barely 50 metres away !  There is also a garage, and a good restaurant, each just under half a mile away.  There are small markets in the village square every Tuesday and Friday morning, visiting fresh fish sellers on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, a visiting pork butcher/charcuterie on Tuesday evenings, a visiting seafood seller (fresh oysters and mussels) on Friday mornings, a visiting pizza van on Friday evenings, and other traders like the onion man who calls on Tuesdays.  A very good restaurant "l'Auberge de la Croisade" is located a couple of miles down the road, on the banks of the Canal du Midi (it was featured by Rick Stein in his series French Odyssey on British TV).  There are no parking restrictions, and no parking charges, in the village.

The accommodation in this light and airy house is as follows:

At ground floor level the front door(s) open directly into a kitchen/dining room. This was originally two rooms but the intermediate wall was removed several years ago and a completely new floor has been laid throughout - with new kitchen units, plumbing and re-wiring. Back in the 1930's the ground floor was actually a shop selling poultry;  the original painted oak front doors and shutters that have been retained provide excellent security.  At first floor level there is a living room with double doors opening out onto the terrace - which is located over the front part of the ground floor accommodation:  An automatic watering system is installed on the terrace so you don't have to be there all the time to keep the plants watered. A sofa bed in the living room means this room can be used as an occasional bedroom for visitors. At second floor level there is a study area (that can accommodate a single bed if required) and a shower room. At third floor level there is a double bedroom. A tiny courtyard at the back of the house gives access to a modest sized secure store beneath the stairs - suitable for keeping wine, or a couple of bicycles. The house is easily maintained and is perfect for holidays and short breaks.  It is very secure, with no garden or other outside areas to worry about:  When you arrive you simply unlock, walk in, open the shutters, turn on the electricity, and that's it ! The present owner bought the house almost 10 years ago and has enjoyed living in the village so much that he has bought a bigger house across the road and now lives in Cruzy permanently. Hence the reason for the sale.

The house has mains water and electricity, and is connected to main drainage. Telephone (and broadband) connected, and TV by satelite dish. Gas is available in the road at the front.   The total running costs for the year, for permanent occupation, including all taxes, insurance and electricity, work out at less than £24.00 per week !

Room sizes: In old village houses like this none of the rooms is completely "square"; the measurements below have been taken across the middle of each room:

Ground floor  Kitchen/dining room: 6.86 metres (22 ft. 6 ins) x 3 metres (9 ft. 10 ins) excluding two sizeable alcoves.

First floor  Small landing with clothes hanging area off. Living room: 3.37 metres (11 ft.) x 3.35 metres (11 ft.). External roof terrace: 4.04 metres (13 ft. 3 ins) x 1.66 metres (5 ft. 5 ins).

Second floor  L-shaped study area: effectively 3.3 metres (10 ft. 10 ins) x 2.07 metres (6 ft. 10 ins). Shower Room: 3.2 metres (10 ft. 6 ins) x 2 metres (6 ft. 7 ins).

Third floor  Landing area: 1.45 metres (4 ft. 9 ins) x 0.9 metres (3 ft.) excluding shelving alcove, and excluding storage cupboard over stairs. Bedroom: 4.05 metres (13 ft. 3 ins) x 3.66 metres (12 ft.).

This little gem of a house has been English owned for the past 10 years and is available immediately.

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