La Miraille - Maison de Maître - for sale €599,000 - beautifully renovated 3 storey house in the Village of Olonzac, in the Minervois, Southern France
Built around 1820, the house is a traditional stone-built, masonry-clad Maison de Maître, typical of the style built for the professional classes. It has been fully renovated to retain all the original features, e.g. decorative floor tiling, fireplaces and joinery, whilst adding all modern comforts. It was fully re-wired and replumbed in 2006 and full town gas-fired central heating installed throughout. Modern insulation above the new ceilings on the 2nd floor was also added at the time. The roof is in good condition.
Decoration is in the Mediterranean style and has been chosen to complement and enhance the many original features - colour schemes are mainly earth shades and all walls to the ground and first floor have been finished using a traditional artisan mixture of lime and tint to allow the fabric to breathe - there is no paint on any of these walls, the colour is provided by the tint added to the lime mixture.
The staircase is original and still retains all its features.
Of the 7 bedrooms, 4 are en-suite with one remaining bathroom to serve the last 3 bedrooms. The 2nd floor accommodation (3 bed-rooms, 1 en-suite bedroom, and 1 bathroom) is in the part of the house that would traditionally have been occupied by servants or for storage - the rooms are large and functional and the original terracotta floor tiling throughout the entire floor has been renovated and is warm underfoot.
The 1st floor, which comprises 3 bedrooms all with en-suite facilities, is the part that would have been occupied traditionally by the owners and is rather grander in style, with higher ornate ceilings and decorative floor tiling.
The 2-storey space accessed internally from the 1st floor is sound but not renovated and would lend itself to a small apartment (1-2 beds). Once renovated it brings the further option of occupying the apartment, whilst renting out the entire house - this would attract considerable income; there is a shortage of such accommodation in the region. Or, of course, it is readily available for storage.
Downstairs, the large kitchen has been adapted from two rooms and the lounge is unchanged, simply redecorated with artisan wall finishing. The very large dining room is new in 2006, having been converted from an existing internal barn—the external walls are decorated with “crépi”, a traditional cement and tint mixture with original stones peeking through in places, and the floor is tiled to complement the original décor. The games room is part of an original barn and has rough walls—only the floor has been concreted. It also houses the heating boiler and large hot-water cylinder and the main fuse board with all parts of the electrical system clearly labelled.
Finally the constant cool temperature wine cellar is original (there are existing labels dating back to 1882) - it is accessed from the games room and occupies space between the house and the separate barn.
The accommodation layout is suitable either for personal occupation or is ready to pursue a chambre d’hôte venture - an obvious choice, amongst others, might be to occupy the 2nd floor (4 beds and 2 baths), leaving the entire 1st floor (3beds with en-suite facilities) free for chambre d’hôte.
The garden, 330m² and entirely re-laid in 2006, is in the Mediterranean style with a 32m² pool, a separate BBQ and seating area, and a number of smaller seating areas dotted around and among the exotic plants, whatever your mood.
- 3 Storey House
- 400m² accommodation
- Internal storage space 80m²
- Internal barn 100m²
- Landscaped meditteranean style garden swimming pool
- 7 Bedrooms
- 5 Bathrooms
- 3 Reception Rooms
- Overall Plot 850m²