Ideal family home near Lectoure
Where are we?
We are in the heart of Lomagne, in the lush green countryside surrounding the popular town of Lectoure, on a private estate that is fully fenced and invisible to passing cars or cyclists. A tall gate protects the property, and we can choose to leave our car in the handy parking space at the beginning of the driveway or drive up past paddocks and tall trees to park in the large open hangar near the house.
The house
This property feels like a family home in the best way possible –the current owners have brought up their children and enjoyed many happy years here and are only reluctantly leaving due to a change in lifestyle. Over time, they have carefully crafted every aspect of the property this property, so that the future owners can move straight in and enjoy the sophisticated blend of old and new, modern and antique.
The house itself is a classic French farmhouse that has been carefully renovated to a high standard. It is surrounded by private gardens, fields and woodlands, the ideal setting for a peaceful rural lifestyle.
Ground floor
We enter the house through the kitchen, as in so many country properties. This room really shows off the décor style of the owners, as it beautifully blends the traditional with today's style. Some of the original aspects, such as the exposed beams and the pretty ceramic and wooden flooring, have been retained, but given a new twist with the addition of a large skylight and a charmingly quirky bookcase fitted into the wall above a door frame. The kitchen is fully functional, and combines grey fitted units with classic wood cupboards and a pop of colour in the red tiled backsplash.
The kitchen opens on one side directly to the large living room the patterned wood and ceramic tiles continue here, enhancing the spaciousness of the room.
The far wall is dominated by a huge stone fireplace that the owners often light up in winter just for the pleasure of having an open fire – the house is heated by a highly efficient ÖkoFEN pellet furnace, so the fire is totally optional!
The fireplace is flanked on one side by a large window, and on the other by glass doors to a covered terrace overlooking the pool area. This is the ideal spot to watch the sunset, or for an al fresco lunch.
Next to the living room, we find the dining room this space is just the right size to host intimate dinner parties. A glass wall runs along the outer side of the room, with exposed stone on the other side and warm fired-earth ceramic tiled flooring.
The glass walls let you feel close to nature even in the heart of winter, and in the summer, they protect diners from the heat.
On the other side of the living room, we find a practical office which has a charming little corner fireplace and is adjacent to a newly renovated shower room.
It would be easy and logical to use this room as a ground floor bedroom, but there are also a further two bedrooms on the ground floor, each with a fireplace and French doors to the garden. None of these fireplaces have been used by the current owners.
Parental suite
On the far side of the house, there is a private suite that spans the ground floor and the first floor. We can access it from the house or directly from the garden.
Upstairs
On the first floor of the house we find a further two bedrooms, each accessed through a cozy little Tv room with a tiny balcony window overlooking the kitchen.
Both bedrooms have sloping ceilings and would make ideal children's rooms – as indeed they have been up to now.
The offices
The owners work from home, but when they started their business, they wanted to be able to separate their work life from their home life. They found the perfect solution in an attractive outbuilding which was originally probably a hay barn with pig sties underneath.This is the most modern part of the property, as it has been entirely renovated, with new windows, air conditioning, floors, electrics and walls. The result is an attractive and highly functional building that, while retaining the exterior aspect of a pretty barn, on the inside is now a highly functional and practical space.
On the ground floor, there is now a larage personal gym and a recording studio. An outside staircase leads to the first floor, where there are two offices with large picture windows facing the gardens and the house. Between the offices and leisure spaces, the owners have found the perfect work/life balance, and only a few steps from the house!
The barns
A crucial aspect of any country property are the outbuildings. Are there any? Are they big enough? Are they in good condition?
In this case, the answer to all these questions is a resounding yes.
The first outbuilding is a 200 m² stable block, with a new roof on two levels. The ground floor currently houses 4 large looseboxes, a tack room, a wine cellar tucked under the stairs, and a large space for the ÖkoFEN boiler & hopper. Stairs lead to the first floor, which is yet to be developed and will need to have some repairs done to the floor.
Next to the stables is a huge hangar, open on two sides. There is room here to park at least 6 cars, as well as a charge point for an electric car, if needed, and room for garden tools and other storage.
Behind the main buildings we find another hangar where there is currently enough wood stored to keep all the fireplaces in the house running for years to come, as well as a big tractor and various other farm vehicles.
There is also a henhouse and there are 7 animal shelters scattered among the fields, all of which are in good condition.

The pool
The pool here is frankly stunning. Set to the side of the house, and surrounded by well-tended lawns, the pool was installed by the current owners and measures 10 x 5 metres with wide steps at one end and an electric cover at the other end. It is equipped with a heating system and the owners have recently built a large, covered terrace next to it so that there is a shady space to sit and read a book on hot summer days.
Aquaponics greenhouse
Nestled between the barns, this greenhouse is an exciting surprise. It was installed in 2016 and continues to be used by the owners – they have had fresh lettuces, peppers and basil all winter and there is scope to furnish the whole family with fresh greens year-round. It is fascinating to see the fish swimming round in their tanks and the freshwater filtering into the raised beds.
This is a huge asset for anyone who enjoys growing their own food and appreciates knowing just where that food came from and what went into producing it. It is a fully functional closed system, easy to run and highly practical.
The land
In a property like this, your degree of self-sufficiency really depends on you. Currently, the owners have not fully exploited the limits of what they can produce autonomously, but there is a lot of potential to explore this aspect of the property.
There is water on the land, in the form of a working well and a canal that runs along between two fields, as well as an orchard that includes apple, pear, cherry, quince, fig, plum and hazelnut trees,
There are also vines that produce succulent grapes every year, and a large vegetable garden that could be further developed.
The owners have chickens and sheep, and there is plenty of room for horses or other animals too.
Here at Bliss
We love this house! It is the perfect home for a family, or those who frequently host friends and family. There is so much space, and the gardens are so wonderfully private, you feel like you are stepping into another world.