Languedoc-Roussillon, Aude, Mas-Cabardès, France

A36881SOM11 - Enter through the ancient front door to a pleasant entrance hall.
To the left, the kitchen 15m²:
Fitted floor and wall cabinets and worktops, ceramic sink beneath window. Tiled floor. Electric hob with extractor hood over.

From entrance hall, through to dining room 32m²:
Open fireplace. Currently arranged with dining area and lounge seating. Window to garden, views of hilltops and castle ruins. Natural fibre flooring.

Door to shower room 6m²
Washing machine point, large walk-in shower, glass screen, WC, window to garden.

From dining room, door to rear entrance hall. Storage cupboard.

Further to large reception room 40 m²
Open fireplace, high windows to street, French windows to balcony terrace and garden beyond. Views of hilltops and castle ruins. Floor in original "tomette" terracotta tiles, painstakingly relaid. All electrics updated. Airy and light.

Rear entrance hall and French windows from the reception room lead to a spacious balcony with lounge and dining seating. A perfect barbecue spot. Restful views. Steps down to the grassed garden. Fully fenced. Gate to the small river which babbles past.

From the front entrance hall, stairs up to the first floor landing with tomette floor in need of some repair.
This is where a lot of the quirk comes in!
On the left, large bedroom 30m² with windows to street, fireplace, built-in cupboards, wooden floor that really lets you feel the age of this house.
At the end of the landing, an L-shaped room currently a large
Bedroom 25m², could lend itself to a bedroom plus office, built-in storage. Sloping ceiling. Painted wooden floorboards. Door to attic stairs. Windows to garden. Door to WC.

From the landing, through to a further hallway, again with tomette floor in need of a little TLC. Access to
Large bedroom 25m² with windows to garden, WC, built-in storage, modern electrics, laminate flooring, exposed ceiling beams. Very cosy feeling.
Smaller bedroom still a very respectable 15m² with windows to street, laminate flooring. Exposed ceiling beams.
Shower room with quadrant cubicle, washbasin. Part tiled, vinyl floor.

The attics offer enough headroom in the centre for adding extra rooms if desired. As they are, they provide an extremely useful and easily accessible storage space.
The cave, or cellar, is below the larger reception room and accessible from inside and from the passage beneath the house.

Overall, this historic property offers a very spacious home with potential for lettings or simply a beautiful family space. Read on to find out about the village and the area.

Mas-Cabardès is a small village of stone-built houses situated in the heart of the Montagne Noire, alongside a little river running through the valley. Reached via one of several windy routes, it feels a million miles from anywhere but is in fact only half an hour from Carcassonne with its airport, train station, wide shopping opportunities and tourist draw. Carcassonne is France's second most popular city for tourism, after Paris.
Mas-Cabardès is small but lively, it still retains a primary school and older children use the school bus service to travel to bigger schools not too far away.
The village has close connections with the history of wine-growing in France as well as an industrial history linked to textiles. These days it is a peaceful place to retreat to, popular with locals and foreigners alike. The good internet speed makes the village ideal for working from home, and several residents do just that, commuting occasionally to the office as required. The peace and quiet provides an ideal atmosphere for concentration, and the landscape is a constant inspiration.
Few of the village houses have an attached garden, this being one of the few to enjoy an outside space. The river chuckling along the end of the garden helps keep the space cool in summer.
The grocery store or épicerie is almost opposite the house and is the hub for exchanging news, having a chat, sharing a coffee and even doing some shopping.
With residents from many countries, well integrated into local life, there is always someone interesting to speak to. The tennis court has been recently renovated and an outdoor gym installed. For walkers, runners and cyclists this area is a paradise of trails, quiet roads and mountain scenery. History enthusiasts will be falling over themselves to get to the next castle, fortified village, château or museum and food and wine buffs will of course have a ball. There are a couple of restaurants within easy driving distance and a little further afield are many more.
If you don't yet know about the Montagne Noire, let me let you into a secret. This magical landscape of hills and lakes, forests and rivers, is an adventure playground with almost all outdoor sports catered for as well as a rich cultural heritage, dynamic village life and idyllic climate of hot summers, cold winters and everything in between. Whether you hope to lie lakeside with a good book, hammer downhill on your mountain bike, pump uphill on your road bike, or climb the crags with nobody else about, this place has something for you. I'd love to share it with you, so get in touch and find out more. Just don't tell the others.