Upon arriving, there is parking space galore with two private owned lanes leading to the garden and to the workshop area which is entirely separate from the house.  It’s worth noting that the workshop could equally well be used as car parking space – with enough space to park a pair of camping cars indoors and still leave plenty of room for family cars and storage space –  or, if your dream includes having a horse or donkey that you can see from your kitchen window, part of the workshop could turn into luxurious stabling – and still leave room to park a horsebox and cars.  When we say ” it’s vast ” we are really not joking … the current owners use it as a true mechanical workshop and for someone who wants to continue working – mechanic, woodworker, artist, anything that needs space … this is perfect!

Having parked, you enter the main house via the original school gate with a low wrought iron fence to either side enclosing a sunny courtyard …  the current owners chose to build a courtyard here so that when a disabled friend stays over, access is easy and children and dogs are kept corralled.  A lovely place for young children to grow up as the land to the side and rear of this property is large with a mass of mature trees forming a natural boundary.  When Jennifer and I visited, it was only our sense of duty and longing to see the house that made us move from the sunny courtyard, but it was a good decision as the house is just as welcoming.

To your right is a large country kitchen, updated, where we sat at the table set by the window drinking coffee and enjoying the view of the hamlet and the farmland beyond.  The hamlet is in a wonderfully rural location but links to a larger road – no road noise incidentally – which is equidistant from two larger villages ( about 5 minutes by car ) which have everything you could need … shops, medical care, banks, La Post etc etc and which both have weekly markets.  It’s a dream location, best of both worlds.

It is a generous country house, cosy sitting room with a large woodburner for winter evenings, large bedrooms, all updated to modern comfort levels, super modern bathrooms, a truly delightful update, and then we saw the rest of the what this house has to offer.  Rather than use the rest of the space as a continuation of what is already a large house, the current owners have created two, totally independent, utterly delightful, two bedroom apartments.  Each has its own character – our personal favorite is the one with exposed stone walls, a gorgeous ” country ” kitchen and windows with delicate balconies to two sides.  So, instead of just a very large house you have the large house plus TWO apartments as well – each element has a separate entrance but all the elements link internally at ground floor …. so, so clever.  Immediate gite potential, immediate chambre d’hotes potential, immediate capacity for a big family or lots of friends, each with their own personal space.  It’s brilliant … works for everything … a large family, a family who needs a granny flat or anyone looking for an instant income stream.

The land is equally generous, bisected by a tiny stream with a bridge over it, bounded by mature trees and with rear access from the lane giving foot or vehicle access to the further part of the land it too can be so many things….  the current owners keep chickens with a ” hard build ” building on the land below the house…. if chickens do not appeal, but lazing in a pool does, the building could become a pool house very easily and, were you to put in a pool, this site would be ideal – close to the house, below the two metre terrace to the rear of the property and totally unoverlooked in any way.  From the chicken/ pool area the ground rises then plateaus out to give fabulous views before sloping down to the mature tree belt that defines the lower boundary….. stunning views….

To precis :  Big house, two linked but independent apartments, huge workshop/barn space, large land with two access points, rural location, easy reach of two villages with shops, healthcare, schools, bars, restaurants.  Easy access to transport via Carcassonne, Toulouse, Girona / Barcelona airports, access to skiing approx 1 1/2 hours to Andorra and even nearer to family friendly Mont d’Olmes, about an hour and a half to the Mediterranean beaches.

Priced to sell, seriously good value, some finishing work deliberately left for new owners – the 3rd kitchen to be chosen and fitted for example – and the current owner has committed to availability for employment to undertake this work if required.  This is an ideal property to provide an instant income stream and has the workshop space to make continued employment feasible or to use as a super family home.   As we said at the beginning, a seriously intelligent update, keeping all options open…. such incredible flexibility of use is rare to find ….. with a gorgeous location as well.

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