Spacious Country House with Swimming Pool

Le Lavandou details

Home description

Le Lavandou is a spacious, well equipped, six bedroom Chartreuse-style country house with a 11 x 4m heated swimming pool. The property includes a large barn and a hectare of garden and oak woods. There are many sunny and sheltered areas for sitting out.

The location is very peaceful and quiet, yet with all the facilities of the cathedral town of Condom very close by (restaurants, supermarkets, pharmacies, newsagents with English newspapers, twice weekly covered market). By car, Condom can be reached in around 5 minutes.

Gascony is a beautiful region of South West France, mid-way between the Atlantic and Mediterranean, bordered by the Pyrénees to the South and the Garonne River to the North. The area is rural, with unspoilt countryside and excellent air quality. The much larger centres of Auch (to the South) and Agen (North) are around 30 minutes away. Bordeaux and Toulouse and their airports can each be reached in around 90 minutes.

External features on site

• Garden
• Swimming pool (exclusive use)
• Scenic views

Accommodation detail

Le Lavandou comprises:

Downstairs

• Large open-plan kitchen, salon and dining area:  3 tall double French doors open on to the garden, providing masses of light into the main 12m long room.  The kitchen is well furnished with a dishwasher, microwave and double oven range from Rosière.  The central dining area includes a large oak table which comfortably seats ten people.  The salon area has sofas, a large open fireplace, TV, a large selection of videos/DVDs, and a CD music system. The TV receives both all the French terrestrial channels and all the free to view channels from the Astra 2 satellite.
• Double bedroom: with a double bed, walnut wardrobe and office facilities. These include broadband Internet access.
• 2 guest toilets
• Utility room: with a large fridge/freezer, washing machine and dryer.

Upstairs

• 4 spacious double bedrooms plus single bedroom: 3 of the bedrooms have double beds.  The fourth 'double' bedroom has two single beds and twin bunk beds.  There is also a single beroom and a cot available for babies, which can be located in any of the bedrooms.
• 2 bathrooms: both with baths and shower attachments.  One is equipped with a WC, the other with a bidet.

Garden and views

Le Lavandou is named after the abundant lavender bushes by the terrace on the East side of the house (in sunlight, photograph top right).  The house is surrounded by fields and woods, with great South facing views.  There is a large garden (2.5 acres) which is quiet and peaceful.

The large barn is used for table tennis and to store games equipment (badminton) and garden furniture.  This includes pool and terrace loungers and the outside dining table and chairs (for ten).

The swimming pool is 11 x 4m and heated from the end of May until mid-September using an energy efficient heat pump.  The shallow end includes Roman steps.  The pool is fully fenced (1.2m high), with access by a security gate.  The shallow end is 80cm and the deep end 2m.

The garden area includes a large tree house which has ladders, fenced sides and a number of platforms.  The latter are also be good places for adults to sit and read away from the house.

About the location

Le Lavandou is situated on a South facing slope in rolling countryside of fields and woods.  The fields are planted alternately with wheat and sunflowers. The view South continues uninterrupted until the Pyrénees. These are 100km away and can be clearly seen on around 80 days of the year, most frequently in the Spring.

The view behind the house, towards the North, is of fields rising to a ridge about 50m higher than the house. This provides panoramic views and the view to the West can be spectacular close to sunset.

Le Lavandou is around 500m from the nearest road and accessed down a private track maintained by a local farmer and the only neighbours, a French family who have always been very helpful and friendly.  There is rarely any traffic or other noise in the summer - other than the birds and an occasional tractor in the distance.

The local town is officially called Condom en Armagnac.  From Le Lavandou, the centre of Condom can be reached in around 5 minutes by car. Condom is a sub-prefecture town and has a large Cathedral.  There are a number of excellent restaurants and a good selection of shops (including supermarkets and pharmacies) and a twice weekly market - where local producers sell their cheeses, bread, cakes and other produce.  The tennis club and courts are 10 minutes away.

See Local guide and map for information on nearby towns and facilities.

Activities near by

Swimming, Gourmet dining, Tennis, Sightseeing, Canoeing, Table tennis

See Activities and attractions for more information on nearby activities and places of interest.

How to get here

The A62 Bordeaux-Toulouse motorway junction at Agen is 30 minutes from Condom and Le Lavandou is another five minutes from Condom.

Air France and British Airways offer several flights a day to Bordeaux and Toulouse.  Easyjet (from Stansted) and Flybe (from Birmingham, Bristol and Southampton) fly daily to Toulouse.  Ryanair flies twice daily to Carcassonne (2 ½ hours).  Agen has a small airport, with several flights a day to Paris Orly.

Agen is also on the main French railway network, with fast trains linking Agen with Paris (around 4 hours), Bordeaux and Toulouse several times a day.

See Local guide and map for information on nearby towns and airports.