an ancient house
The Little French Maison is a charming stone house situated within the medieval fortifications of Conques sur Orbiel. Close to the church, ramparts and the old Porte de Montagne Noire, the origins of the house are part of the old 15 century village.
Two years ago when I bought the old house the lower ground floor had changed little over hundreds of years. With the interior walls of rough stone and traces of barn door openings it was easy to imagine sheep and goats being herded in for winter. The ground floor has now been converted into 3 rooms, a spacious bathroom, (bath, shower, large washbasin and toilet) full of character retaining some of the original stone walls, a laundry room with the old wooden shuttered window and ancient beamed ceiling (large French sink, washing machine, drying area, and bike storage) and a bedroom with a large sofa bed, old stone wall, beamed ceiling, and a small window opening into narrow village street. This is a beautifully cool, quiet bedroom in the heat of the summer.
The house has been completely restored over the last two years; re-plumbed, rewired, redecorated, re-roofed with old terracotta tiles, and we have recently added wifi. My top priority has always been to keep the original character of the old house seeping through.
The cool tranquil house with thick stone walls, a retreat from the Mediterranean sun in summer; becomes a cosy warm house in winter with heaters in every room and a log burner in the kitchen (basket of logs supplied).
I fell in love with the old wooden chestnut floors on the first and second floors when I first entered the house and they have now been waxed, polished and brought back to life.
The old shuttered windows facing into the narrow village street are just as they were, with original pretty fastenings. To bring light and a view to the house I have opened up two floor to ceiling French windows in the living room and bedroom above. These windows give a stunning view towards La Montagne Noire and gentle early evening sunshine to sit in..
We look forward to your stay.