We have a beautiful, big, seventeenth-century house for sale in the Village of Allemans du Dropt. The location is in Guyenne, which is part of modern Aquitaine and next to the department of the Dordogne. Our department is Lot-et-Garonne.

Those of us who live in Guyenne are happy to be away from the enormously touristy Dordogne; we can go visit it any time we want. Dordogne tends to be rocks, caves, gorges, rivers, and forest. The Lot-et-Garonne invites you to enjoy the land of the "gentle adventure". We have rolling farmland and woods, rivers and fields, stunning views, and peace and quiet.

It was once the tax office and has housed many shops on the ground floor in years past. It is in the heart of Allemans, with butcher/fromagier/grocery and baker at about 20 yards, and pharmacy and newsshop next to the baker. Oh, and a cafe next to the butcher. About 80 yards away is the town hall, and 90 yards away is the post office. About 100 yards away is a very decent restaurant and hotel. And right across the square from us is the tourist office.

The house is built of local limestone. It has already stood several centuries and is very solid. All the windows have shutters, painted dark red. In a historic village like this, you don't have a lot of choice of paint colors, but this red is approved. Luckily, I like it.

One first thought I had was that I didn't want to live so exposed in the village. But in fact, once the trees are in leaf, the house is very private, as the houses in front of it are turned 90 degrees away, facing the place (square). Also, the nearest neighbor is the east end of the church. The master bedroom looks out toward a stained-glass window. Also, I fully intended to use the side door for my comings and goings rather than the front door. The side door opens onto a pedestrian alley and is very private. Here is a reproduction of the "plan cadastral" of this part of the village.

Our house is number 154. See how we cuddle up to the apse of the church. 155, like 203, is a covered market place. Just a roof on vertical wooden beams. 152, next to the church, is empty and needs a family to fix it up. 157 faces the street, rather than the alley.

In our building, notice that we have three sides free of neighbors. In a village home, this is unusual. The additional windows make our home much brighter than a normal 400-year-old house. Sharing our wall is number 153, lived in by an elderly woman whom I have never seen or heard. Number 156 is a municipal hall for classes and meetings. The apartment upstairs is home to one man, whom I have also never heard, but whom I have met outside, and he is friendly.

The whole town is friendly. French and English.

So we resolved to sell the Allemans house (sniff), but first we thought we should fix it up as though we were going to live in it. The house had been a candle shop on the ground floor, with the candle-making workshop where the kitchen is now. The owner of the shop lived upstairs and had a kitchenette up there. She also added an extra set of stairs in the hall, so that the person living upstairs could go in the side door and right up the stairs instead of going through the ground floor rooms. This staircase was very steep - so steep that I held on with both hands when coming down.

After some deliberation, we (Monsieur) took out the new stairs and refurbished the original stairway, which had been used as storage for 10 years. These old stairs with new treads are gentle and sturdy, and I don't have to hold on. Also, we got back 2/3 of the space in our upstairs and downstairs hallways. They are proper rooms now. They can take an armoire and still have space left over for living.

Removing the staircase also opened up doors to the hall from bedrooms up- and downstairs. This has given an open feel that was entirely missing when we bought the house.

Plumbing OK Wiring OK. Many outlets.

The floor is insulated between the upstairs and the attic, according to the former owner. Also the framed-in bedroom in the attic is insulated, she says. However, the insulation is thin, by my thinking. But we got the house in February, and the central heating, set on 17 or 18Celcius kept the house perfectly warm. Monsieur has put standard insulation in the ceilings of the downstairs toilet room and all the upstairs except for the two rooms that overlook the place (because I wanted to keep the ceiling beams visible). He has also insulated under the stairs, between the house and the cellar. And the ceiling of the attic bedroom.

The floor of the "dining room" was delapidated, so he has refloored the whole room with soft wood (standard in Aquitaine) and insulated it underneath, from the cellar. The living room has modern tile, and the kitchen has its old tile. I don't dare say "original" but who knows? It's pretty old, but so full of character! Upstairs, the floors are all wood.

The kitchen is new from Ikea and came in 136 boxes. It has lots of counter space (chene massif) and cupboards, cooktop, oven, fridge, and small size dishwasher. (I chose that, to Monsieur's dismay, as he had to manufacture a door for it because the cabinet was for a full-sized dishwasher. But I love my small one as it's so economical and washes everything fine.) The Ikea drawers go in and out smoothly; the light oak finish brightens the room. We came out with one armoire left over, so it's in the hallway. It's a nice broom closet. ;)

Also, there is no garden, but we sit out in front in a triangular space bordered by the house, the apse, and a row of large potted plants. The space belongs to the village, but the village is fine with this, as it keeps the area from being parked on. We, like the owner before us, keep a picnic table and chairs permanently on this plot. And you could make it more of a garden with raised beds. The village is happy with anything that makes the village prettier.

But think how nice it is not to have a garden when you want to go away for a few months. You can just lock the doors and go!

Living room taken from the dining room . Dining room (can be made a bedroom or study).

+33 (0)6.79.52.32.48
+33 (0)5.53.94.71.81

Email is always good: davidjjones@free.fr
or mjones@laposte.net

Why should you want this home?

• We picked it out for ourselves.
• It has all the above features.
• It is in a darling village with everything to hand and quite a few English residents, if that makes a difference to you. You won't find a village in this area without English residents.
• We will be here and will help you to settle in. We know where there are restaurants and services in the area. We have experience with the utilities and know the telephone options. When we came, it took years to discover what we know now. We live 20 minutes away, so we won't be too close. It's good to have friends.