Stunning Maison de Maitre with gites..

Stunning Maison de Maitre with gites and indoor heated pool

Located just 20 minutes from the coast, this impressive fully renovated six bedroom house comes with two good size gites, an indoor heated pool and large land plot.

The property consists of the main house (approx. 360 sq m), which is a classic Maison de Maitre (literally 'master's house') renovated to an exceptional standard.

There are also two lovely gites (one two-bedroom, one three-bedroom), an indoor pool in a stunning building, a bakehouse converted into an office and studio, a large playroom, garage and other outbuildings.

In total, the property sits in about 3.6 acres/14,670 square metres which is part garden, part horse paddock.

The property is located within 20 minutes of the historic Roman town of Saintes and a little further from the seaside towns of Royan and St Georges de Didonne (and their amazing beaches). La Rochelle and Bordeaux are both an hour away in opposite directions.

Main House

The original, front part of the main house is about 200 years old. As is relatively common with maisons de maitre, the house was doubled in size with the addition of a rear secton about 125 years ago. These are incredibly solid houses, built of local stone and with walls about 40cm thick. The house has oil-fired central heating though with a number of wood-burning stoves this is often used as supplementary rather than primary heating.

Ground Floor

The ground floor is made up of four principal rooms - the kitchen, two living rooms and a dining room - with a hallway, cloakroom and utility room making up the rest.

Upstairs there are six double bedrooms (three with en-suite shower-rooms and walk-in wardrobes) a family bathroom and separate w.c.

The kitchen measures about 5.5m x 5.5m. It has fitted cabinets, granite worksurfaces, a fitted dishwasher, and a double Smeg oven with five-ring gas hob. The room has plenty of space for a large dining table, and has a stone fireplace with wood-burning stove. An exterior door leads into the courtyard.

A door from the kitchen leads into the first living room, almost exactly the same size as the kitchen at 5.5m x 5.5m, with the same tiled flooring from the kitchen extending into this room. The room is double-aspect and has a wood-burning stove insert in the fireplace.

A door from the living room leads into the hallyway, with its original tiled floor and the beautiful walnut staircase. Off the hallway is a w.c.

A door from the hallway leads into the second living room, almost identical to the first including the wood-burning stove insert in the fireplace. The main difference between the rooms is that this living room has wooden parquet flooring.

Double-doors from the second living room lead into the dining room, again 5.5m x 5.5m in size. The wooden parquet flooring continues into the dining room, which in addition to a window has a glazed door into the small rear courtyard garden.

A door from the dining room leads into the utility room (which also house the central heating boiler). The utility room has fitted cupboards and room for a washing machine and a tumble-dryer. A second door from the utility room leads back into the kitchen and you've completed a lap of the ground floor.

First Floor

The first bedroom is double-aspect, with views into the courtyard and across the garden and paddock, and measures about 5.5m x 4m. It has a en-suite shower-room and a walk-in wardrobe.

The second bedroom measures around 5m x 4m and has views across the gardens and paddock. It has an en-suite shower-room and walk-in wardrobe.

The third bedroom measures about 4m x 3.5m and has views into the courtyard. It has an en-suite shower-room and walk-in wardrobe.

A fourth double bedroom measures around 4m x 3m and has views over the gardens and paddock.

Two further double bedrooms, identical in size at around 4.5m x 3m, have views into the rear courtyard garden.

There is a large family bathroom, measuring 4.5m x 3m, with a bath, shower and toilet, and a separate WC.

Gites

The larger of the gites was created out of the workers' cottage. It has three double/twin bedrooms, a shower room, bathroom, kitchen and large living room. It also has a private garden and terrace.

The second gite sits hidden away on the first-floor of the big barn. It has two double bedrooms, a shower room, kitchen and large living room.

A local architect designed the stunning building, inside which sits the 10m x 5m swimming pool. The benefits of being able to use a swimming pool throughout the year cannot be underestimated, both in terms of owners use but also for extending the gite rental season.

The gites have gas-fired central heating. The poolhouse has a gas boiler and underfloor heating, with a heat-exchanger used for heating the water in the pool itself.

Outside

Locate below the smaller gite is a large playroom, boot room with separate 'dog shower', WC and garage. There is another barn used to store garden materials and which also contains a separate wine cellar.

Sitting next to the main house, is the building that would have originally been the place where bread for the hamlet was baked and the laundry for the house was done. It now houses an office downstairs and studio upstairs, retaining the original bread over and the two huge earthenware pots used for the laundry, plus a wood-burning stove.

Within a five-minute drive there is a village with a baker's, butcher's and one of the area's best restaurants. The nearest supermarket is in a small town 10 minutes away, which also has a number of other useful shops.