In 1775, Jean-Pierre Labat de Serene, a shipowner and wheat and flour merchant, purchased the Mirande estate and built this villa there between 1784 and 1785. The villa was built in a context of transformation in architectural art in the Bordeaux region, under the influence of the architect Victor Louis. The dwelling is set back in grounds that are enclosed with an elegant wrought-iron fence that runs alongside the road from which the entrance gate leads into the property. A hipped roof of red barrel tiles crowns the villa. This roof is punctuated with zinc dormers and five chimney stacks. At the end of the grounds, a covered swimming pool and a garage lie in absolute privacy. At the villa’s north end, there is a cellar with several compartments.

The 18th-century villa

The main entrance is on the house’s east side. A double flight of front steps with wrought-iron balustrades leads up to the door. The entrance door stands beneath an arabesque-patterned fanlight. The house has a ground floor and a first floor in the roof space. The facade’s symmetrical design is centred upon the entrance door. A row of balusters and a cornice of dentils crowns the facade. Large, evenly spaced rectangular windows punctuate the facade. The shutters and window frames with pane bars date back to the time of construction. This facade, made of Bordeaux stone, faces east. On the south side, there is a conservatory with a zinc roof. And on the west side, a bay window protrudes from the elevation. Two extensions, respectively on the north and south ends, stand upon cellars.

The ground floor
From the front flight of steps, you step into the entrance hall. This hallway connects to a large lounge, which is the central space in a series of connecting rooms, five of which are listed for their historical interest. These rooms form the house’s reception areas and they structure movement around the interior from the east-facing facade. Heading southwards, you reach a listed dining room decorated with paintings by Jean-Baptiste Butay. Next, there are three more lounges. The first of these lounges is listed for its Louis XVI style fireplace. Heading northwards, the row of connecting rooms offers a smoking lounge and a bedroom – both are listed for their historical interest. A last bedroom with a shower room completes this series of spaces. Opposite the main lounge, there is a tall gallery with wooden panelling. It leads out to the garden via steps and the bay window. These two rooms running from one side of the house to the other provide a transition from public life to private life within the villa. And the long central corridor that cuts through them from north to south, with floor tiles laid in a black-and-white checked pattern, connects to the villa’s private western rooms. Towards the south end, the corridor connects to two bedrooms that are filled with natural light from large windows. The bedroom with its own bathroom is listed for its historical interest. At the end of the building, beyond a former pantry, there is a conservatory and a hallway that connects to a workshop. Towards the north end, there is a bedroom listed for its historical interest with a shower room. Beyond it, there is a reading lounge. A secondary dining room that connects to the kitchen completes this ground floor at the villa’s north end, which can also be reached via a separate entrance with stone steps. A quarter-turn stone staircase leads to the northern intermediate level. A door leads to a cellar where wine is stored and where the boiler is installed too. All the bedrooms and lounges have a fireplace and wooden flooring – in some, wood strip flooring and, in others, herringbone parquet.

The first floor
The first floor offers a 280m² floor area. It is divided into several spaces that offer a range of possibilities for development: there are five rooms on the east side and five rooms on the west side. On the east side, all the spaces need to be converted and the roof framework is exposed. In each roof space, two skylights bring natural light inside. The western section has been partly converted into a lounge, storerooms and two small bedrooms. Windows bring natural light inside.

The mezzanine floor
There are two intermediate levels: one at the villa’s north end and one at its south end. You reach each one via a staircase. Each has two bedrooms that look out at the front and back gardens respectively. A shower room completes the southern intermediate level.