Belle Époque Chateau with 3HA and Guardian's Cottage

Property Description

From the moment you approach this property, the sweep of it's gracious Edwardian architecture hidden behind cedar trees and rambling grounds draws you in. Tempting glimpses of carved stone windows, a tower, balconies and elevated terraces speak of a glamourous past.

The house offers superb proportions, exciting original features and bags of character. Moreover, it is priced to allow you the opportunity to restore it to exactly your specifications, be that to return it to a dazzling family home or as a business venture.

A comprehensive renovation on the property is a must: the roof will need to be replaced as will some of the carpentry, the house needs rewiring and possibly a new central heating system, the septic tank replacing and there is currently just one functioning shower room but the property has all it's original features intact and lies within easy distance of Mont de Marsan and Bordeaux.

On the ground floor there are four main rooms, all good sized, consisting of an elegant drawing room, a large double length dining and sitting room, a study / library and a kitchen with adjacent scullery. Up a curved staircase, flooded with light, one finds 4 double bedrooms, a shower room, WC and original dressing / cleansing room. The second floor leads to a spacious attic space in which a further two bedrooms were fitted sometime in the 1970s. The whole top floor has enormous potential to reconfigure the space into more bedrooms or as an independent apartment as there are full height windows throughout and access to a superb roof terrace.

The entrance hall is paved with decorative cement tiles and presents a bright and elegant welcome. Ahead and to the left, the grand wooden staircase leads up to the first floor, whilst the first drawing room is on your right. At approximately 23 m², this pretty salon has a lovely parquet floor, decorative marble fireplace and two large windows overlooking the grounds.

On past the drawing room, enfilade, is the double length dining and sitting room (approx: 45m²) with large windows out to the back that could be beautifully replaced with French doors to the rear gardens. The room has a stunning carved fireplace, decorative ceiling plasterwork and parquet floors. Opposite this room is a generously spaced study / library at almost 17m², with a marble fireplace and a window overlooking the entrance grounds. The original kitchen has a charming tiled checkerboard floor, an impressive chimney piece and a door to the terrace. The scullery behind the kitchen offers good potential storage space as well having plumbing in situ for washing machines etc, and a WC is already in place.

On the first floor are four big bedrooms (25m², 22m², 16m² and 24m²) a loo, dressing room and shower room. All are in various states of decor and repair. The master bedroom has a wonderful east facing balcony overlooking the grounds, as does the second bedroom with double doors leading to a south facing balcony gazing over the entrance grounds. All rooms have wooden floorboards and marble fireplaces. They are all light, with high ceilings and moreover with the potential to make beautiful and comfortable sleeping quarters.

The curving wooden staircase continues up to the attic which currently has two bedrooms that were made for grandchildren sometime in the 1970s. There is a significantly sized remaining attic space, in which one could easily create more bedrooms, en-suite bathrooms or an independent apartment.

The outbuildings (two garages and a guardians house) are also in need of renovation, but once completed provide excellent gite potential.

The gardens surround the house on all sides and the land of 3HA goes back to the woodlands beyond, providing ample pasture should you wish to keep horses.


Estimated Renovation costs approx 200k.

Location: The Prefecture town of Mont de Marsan is located 15 minutes from the property and has all amenities including a railway station, hospital, university campus and a number of excellent restaurants. Bordeaux is accessed in approximately 1 hour, with motorway access from the house taking 15 minutes. The vast beaches of the Atlantic ocean can be reached in little over 60 minutes, the international surf spot of Hossegor in 1hr 15. The historic city of Pau at the foothills of the Pyrenees lies 70 minutes to the south. Ski Stations approximately 2 hours.