Dream housestill at the dream stage

for sale in France

Hautefort, Dordogne, France

The house is in the centre of the village, with beautiful views of the chateau (the only building in town from which the chateau can be seen in full) on one side, and of the valley on the other. It is four storeys, with a little garden. It was built in the mid-nineteenth century. We gutted it (keeping the approx. 180 sq. meters of antique, wide board, French oak floors, worth about €85,000) and did major structural repairs, replaced a small balcony door, so it is very solid now, but a shell, for whomever wants to finish it.

We had planned to make the basement as kitchen (which leads onto the garden), pottery studio, storage. Ground floor/street level (which were once shops) as living room and library (the latter has a private stairway to a bedroom above. First floor as two very large bedrooms with bathrooms en suite. Second floor/attic, could be two bedrooms, with slanted ceilings and exposed beams, or I was going to make it one long sleeping/playroom for children/young people. The views of the chateau from the top floor are fabulous. Should a buyer want them, our plans for the development, and all of the contacts with local workers can be provided.

The village is a protected national site, so the environment will not change much, if at all. The only plans the town hall has is to restore the 18th century market that is about 50 meters from the house. (Currently, they have no money for that.) I think this would improve the value of the house. There is an excellent restaurant that specializes in local Périgord cuisine nearby, one of the best in the region. From the windows of the house, one can watch the annual 14th of July (Bastille Day) fireworks down at the lake. On the other side, one has a free view of the illuminations of the chateau at night. Thirty meters up the road is a cafe, newspaper shop, bakery, florist. The village has a petrol station, supermarket, more restaurants, pharmacy, doctors, dentist (next door), library, and a lot of charm.

More about the chateau of Hautefort can be seen on www.chateau-hautefort.com

more about the region can be seen onwww.guide-du-perigord.com

Total size for the house: 350 square meters (=3,150 sq. ft.? I am never sure on that calculation)Total for the garden: 180 sq. meters (=1,620 sq. ft.)Total for the recently purchased plot to the side, giving space to build a garage: 15 sq. meters

Starting price: €300,000, or a really good offer

Exterior

The house as seen from the chateau

The house just in front of the chateau

InteriorGround Floor

Original kitchen fireplace, where whole pigs were roasted!

New beam

Full length of ground floor, showing front door and new beam. People are descending the stairs to the base-ment

Antique church window from Brazil, on the ground floor

InteriorFirst Floor

Directly above the old kitchen fireplace and lit-tle stairs; one of the three original fireplaces on this floor.

Directly above the new beam, with the original doors stacked together; one of the three original fireplaces on this floor.

View from the win-dow in the above photo.

The whole length of the first floor. Origi-nal staircase, to the left of which is the third fireplace. The whole floor is ap-proximately 100 sq. meters.

Antique, French oak, wide floor boards.

Windows along the front of the house, street side.Wash basin set into wall.

View of the chateau from the upper windows

InteriorAttic

New basement door from the outside

InteriorBasement

Directly below the new beam on the ground floor

Stairs leading to the ground floor

Directly below the black kitchen fireplace, looking toward the newly pur-chased plot.

Opposite the stairs, door to the garden

Plot purchsed, where a garage or greenhouse could be built

Historic Photoshowing balcony

House : approx 345 square meters (3,715 square feet) plus 180 square meter garden (1,935 sq. ft.) plus plot of land to side 15 square meters

Basement :

about 80 useable square meters (860 square feet)New concrete floorNew stairsNew arched window/doorOne new window on garden sideNew wall to prevent damp

Street level/Ground floor :

about 95 useable square meters (1022 square feet)Currently one open spaceAll new windows on the valley sideNew door for balcony reconstruction (see historic photo)Three fireplaces, Two are the originalOriginal stone as first step of main stairsSecond, smaller stairsFive arched doors onto the streetFabulous views of the valleyAll original wide boards oak flooring

First floor / upstairs

About 95 useable square meters (1022 square feet)Currently one open spaceAll new windows on the valley sideThree fireplaces, all originalFabulous views of the chateauFabulous views of the valleyAll original wide boards oak flooring

Attic

About 75 useable square meters (807 square feet)Two dormer windows with unbelievable views of the chateauCurrently one open space

Garden

About 180 square meters (1935 square feet)Old rosesOld grapevinesPear TreeOne shedTulipsCana liliesSteps to the streetAccess to the basement from two doorsLooks over the valley

MORE

The house was built in the 19th century and is on the main street. For nearly 100 years, it was owned by the same family. On the ground floor, they ran a small grocer’s on one side and a hairdresser’s on the other side. The attic was a warren of cubicles where “the help” of these two businesses lived. Having once had a commercial use, it should be fairly easy to do so again, if so desired. The mayor is keen to liven up the village.

The historical photo shows that there was a balcony. This evidence should make it possible to have the planning permission to restore it.

There was originally no space for a garage. With the purchase of the small plot to the side, there is now space to build a garage.

There are approximately 180 square meters of the original, now antique, wide board, French oak flooring, at a current market value of about €85,000.

Neighbours on one side are a dentist and his family, to the other side a charming, elderly lady who rents rooms during the summer. Less than a hundred metres up the road is a cluster of small shops. Not far is a fabulous restaurant.

Hautefort is rather like the Chipping Norton of Dordogne: exceedingly pretty and charming, which is why it has been used for films.