A delightful complex made of local stone with a floor area of over 1,500m²,
nestled in a 13th-century village near the city of Agen in south-west France
nestled in a 13th-century village near the city of Agen in south-west France
Agen,
LOT-ET-GARONNE
aquitaine
47000
FR
Location
The charming village of Puymirol is a ‘bastide’ – a small fortified town built in south-west France in the Middle Ages. Puymirol was built by Raymond VII, Count of Toulouse, upon a rocky hill in 1246. A fortified outer wall with four gateways runs around it. The layout of this medieval village is typical of bastides: it has straight streets at right angles to each other, around a central square where the fairs and wheat markets that made the place famous were held. In the region’s many military conflicts in the past, Puymirol’s commanding position made it a lookout spot and a strategic location for defence in the area around the city of Agen. Indeed, the village’s reputation as an impregnable fortress protected it from attacks and destruction, though the village found itself successively under English and French rule. So Puymirol has kept all its character and authenticity. The village is only 25 minutes from the city of Agen. From Agen’s high-speed train station, you can reach the cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse in an hour and Paris in 3 hours and 10 minutes. Toulouse international airport is just 1 hour and 10 minutes from the village too.
Description
The property is made up of several buildings and stands along the village’s main road. Its oldest building was probably built in the 13th century. The white stone of its architecture is typical of the local region. The property is structured around a shady patio, a rooftop terrace, and a courtyard with a swimming pool. The buildings, which have up to three levels, and their open-air spaces form a vast continuous complex. Roofs of barrel tiles crown the buildings. The plain elevations are punctuated with rectangular or arched windows. Some of the windows are stone-mullioned. Others are small-paned. From outside, you can easily pick out each distinct building in accordance with its style and height, but you can move around the whole interior very smoothly. This interior was entirely decorated by a famous interior designer in a bold style. It includes a world-renowned gourmet restaurant, as well as a more modest restaurant. It also includes a certified hotel with ten bedrooms and meeting rooms. The property includes all the rooms and installations that such a prestigious restaurant requires, including a large professional kitchen and specially made storerooms. Yet the whole place could be given a fresh purpose and tailored to family life. Indeed, the floor area of over 1,500m² here opens up the possibility of adding a new business activity to a future home here.
The medieval building
From the village’s main street, the oldest building stands on the left. This house dates back to the Middle Ages. It has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. A gabled roof of barrel tiles crowns the building. On the street side, the facade is punctuated with three windows and a door on the ground floor, two large windows on the first floor, and two small, arched windows on the second floor. A section with only a ground floor and a first floor adjoins the house. Through this adjoining section, you can reach the restaurants straight from the street via a large wooden door fitted in an arched surround below a triangular bas-relief pediment with a bull’s-eye window in the middle of it. To the right of this entrance door, a wall separates the patio from the street and links the medieval house to the next building. This wall is punctuated with two bull’s-eye windows: there is one at each end of it.
The ground floor
An old wooden door leads into an entrance hall with a floor of terracotta tiles. On the left, there is another wooden door. It leads into a large room with old wood-strip flooring and a wooden ceiling painted blue, across which whitened beams run. Four windows let natural light into the room. The brick and stone of their surrounds have been left exposed. At the end of the room, there is a stone niche in the wall. And on your right when you enter the room, an old open hearth reminds you of the room’s former culinary purpose. Opposite the windows, in a large stone wall, there is a broad, arched alcove. This was once the start of a passageway leading to rooms just beyond it, but it is now blocked up with a partition of wooden boards. This opening could easily be brought back. Today, this room is the eating area of the more modest restaurant in the property. It has a capacity of 30 place settings. From the entrance hall, another door takes you to two rooms that connect to each other via the same broad, arched passageway, which carries on from the previous room. The three rooms could be brought together. Indeed, the two biggest ones are currently used for the gourmet restaurant, which has a capacity of 50 place settings. In here too, the ceilings are painted blue with whitened beams running across them. Terracotta tiles adorn the floor. In the biggest of the two rooms, a stone fireplace stands against one of the walls, beside a niche that is used to store wood. The rooms are decorated with thick fabrics, wall hangings and white chandeliers. This creates the ambience of a cosy boudoir with baroque decor.
The first floor
A timber staircase with two quarter-turns leads upstairs. On both sides of the landing, there are lavatories: one for ladies on one side and one for gentlemen on the other. A double door leads to a spacious hallway. On the left, there is a dining room. Two large windows fill it with natural light. This dining room combines contemporary decor with old architecture. The timber framing of one wall is a reminder of the building’s medieval origins. The French-style beamed ceiling here has been given a more modern appearance with pale-grey paint. Wood-strip flooring painted black adorns the floor. To the right, there is a lounge with a stone fireplace. The exposed beams of its French-style beamed ceiling are painted white. The natural light that pours into the room through two large windows showcases the beauty of the pale stone walls. To the left of the fireplace, a discreet door leads to a staircase that takes you straight down to the kitchen. The lounge and dining room are currently used as a conference room and private lunch room. Straight ahead, a room that connects to the dining room via a double door used to serve as a smoking room. A staircase leads up to an apartment on the top floor.
The second floor
The apartment on the top floor has a large office or lounge, two bedrooms, a bathroom and a cloakroom. It needs to be renovated. A vast roof space also lies on this floor and needs to be renovated too. Given its considerable ceiling height up to the roof beams, it could be subdivided into two floors.
The patio
The patio can only be reached from inside the property. It forms a square and is edged with an open-sided gallery along three of its sides. This gallery connects to the adjoining buildings. Stone columns with capitals adorned with plant motifs support a roof of barrel tiles laid upon a timber frame. A small ornamental pond lies at the foot of the wall without the gallery. Vegetation climbs up this wall, embellishing it. Today, meals are served outside in this patio.
Covered part: 160m²
Open-air part: 64m²
The professional kitchens
The professional kitchens are designed for feeding customers at the property’s fine restaurants. A wing is dedicated to cooking and food storage. It houses all the spaces needed for technical installations. This wing has a ground floor and a first floor. It edges one side of the patio, beyond the gallery, and links the medieval building to the central section. On the ground floor, there is an extensive professional kitchen. And upstairs, there is an annexe kitchen, cold rooms designed for different food products, a culinary laboratory, and several technical installations rooms.
The two hotel buildings and the courtyard
The property’s central section is made up of three buildings. There is a first building, which probably dates back to the 17th century, and its courtyard, where the swimming pool lies. This first building has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. Its facade is punctuated with a remarkable series of tall, arched windows. A second building links it to a third building, which is of a similar size to the first one. The second building, a lobby, only has a ground floor and a rooftop terrace. Four stone columns punctuate each of the lobby’s two broad elevations. On the court side, five glazed wall sections fill the gaps between the columns. And on the street side, four glazed wall sections fill the gaps between the columns: two on either side of a wooden double door, the property’s main entrance. Above this entrance, there is a balustrade adorned with greenery that gives the rooftop terrace privacy. Only the top of the terrace’s wrought-iron gazebo can be seen from the street. The third building was probably built at the start of the 19th century. It is more discreet than the first one. It has a ground floor, a first floor and a second floor. Its elevations are punctuated with rectangular windows fitted with wooden shutters. It is crowned with a gabled roof of barrel tiles, underlined with a génoise cornice. The first and third buildings face each other from either side of the plant-dotted courtyard. Today, these two buildings form a hotel. The lobby links them together. When you step through the double door, you find a space for welcoming clients on the right. It is completed with a closed office and is filled with natural light from two street-facing windows. On the left, you find a small, comfortable waiting lounge. The wood-strip floors are adorned with a thick purple carpet patterned with gold-coloured foliage motifs. Netting and curtains give the spaces here privacy from the street while letting natural light in. Beyond the waiting lounge, which leads out to the courtyard, there is another lounge. This lounge is larger. It is decorated identically. Its French-style beamed ceiling is painted pale grey. Two white and gold baroque columns with a twisted form frame one of the windows. And a stone fireplace stands against the wall opposite. Tall glazed archways lead out to the patio on one side and to the court on another. On the right, a double door leads to a staircase that takes you upstairs, then to a double room with many cabinets made of natural wood with glazing or mesh. Terracotta tiles adorn the floor and the wooden ceiling is pale grey here too. The double room is made up of two sections: one is used as a dining room and the other has features that suggest it is a kitchen. This large room leads straight to the courtyard and the professional kitchen. To the right of the entrance lobby, a corridor connects to a lavatory and then to a bedroom for people with reduced mobility. The latter has a small lounge and a bathroom. It looks out at the courtyard and its swimming pool. Both hotel buildings each have a first floor and second floor. They offer a total of 10 bedrooms, nine of which are used for the hotel. They also include storage spaces, a wine cellar and a loft. Two of the first-floor bedrooms lead straight to the rooftop terrace above the lobby. This terrace looks down at the street on one side and the swimming pool on the other. The decoration of every bedroom is by the same interior designer as the one behind the rest of the property’s interior. Each bedroom follows the same model, but with a few variations: there is a spacious bedroom and an en-suite bathroom with a shower or a bathtub on feet and with walls with an iridescent glass mosaic. The floors are covered with terracotta tiles. Exposed beams run across the ceilings. Elegant bespoke wooden cupboards have been fitted in the bedrooms too.
Our opinion
This remarkable multifaceted property never stops surprising you with its charming architectural quality, both inside and outside, its splendid layout, the variety and sizes of its elegant rooms, and its sumptuous decor, which is both baroque and classical. Today, this unique property offers a first-rate hotel and fine restaurants. A future owner could easily keep these, without any renovation work. Yet the property could be repurposed with some work carried out on it. The place could become a family home combined with an on-site business. Even several families could live here together, sharing a spacious, welcoming haven.
Reference 966254
| Land registry surface area | 1017 m2 |
| Main building surface area | 1600 m2 |
| Number of bedrooms | 14 |
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NB: The above information is not only the result of our visit to the property; it is also based on information provided by the current owner. It is by no means comprehensive or strictly accurate especially where surface areas and construction dates are concerned. We cannot, therefore, be held liable for any misrepresentation.
