Poitou-Charentes, Vienne, Saires, France

A06055 - Directly accessible from the road a strip of land leads to a covered parking area (50m²) perfect for parking 3 cars, complete with a shed at the end (9m²) perfect for keeping all your car maintenance equipment. To enter the main enclosed area of the property, you can either walk behind this building to a small pedestrian gate, or you can go back to the big gates a little further along the road.

Once inside the enclosed garden, the house sits to the right. Red and white roses grow up the front, giving a pretty country cottage look. and beautiful stonework including a stunning series of windows on the first floor, representing the four suits of a pack of cards, really make it stand out from the rest.

Ground floor: Entering the house through a small veranda, just big enough for depositing shoes and coats, etc. a door leads directly into the kitchen (25m²), featuring custom built units with a central island and black granite worktops. A wood-burning stove keeps it beautifully cosy during the colder months. From here, a staircase leads up to a mezzanine (12.5m² at floor level), currently used as a spare bedroom. Under the stairs a built-in cupboard offers welcome additional hanging space. A door to the right of the stairs opens onto a small corridor with further doors leading to the downstairs WC as well as a downstairs shower/utility room (6m²).

Back on the other side of the kitchen, glazed double doors lead into the dining room (28m²) always sunny with windows to both front and rear, and plenty of room for entertaining all of your friends and family. The electric radiator here is possibly surplus to requirements but useful to leave on a low setting if you need to go away for a while in the winter. A further glazed door leads to the living room (33m²), just as light as the dining room thanks to its dual aspect, featuring another wood-burning stove, this time in a beautiful stone fireplace. There is also a door allowing you to step back out into the fully-enclosed garden. Stairs from this room lead up to...

1st floor: From the small landing at the top of the stairs, a door to the left reveals the huge master bedroom (32m² at floor level) complete with exposed beams, wooden floor, a whole wall of built-in storage, and a reversible air-conditioning unit (adjustable hot/cold according to the season). To the right of the landing another door reveals the second bedroom (14.5m²), currently arranged as a library/study, through which you access the wonderfully large and thoughtfully laid out main bathroom (14m²), with WC, washbasin, large walk-in shower and separate bathtub. There is also a heated towel rail for your comfort.

Outside: The walled garden is mostly laid to lawn, with a terraced area directly in front of the house and a path from there over to the outbuilding opposite (which backs onto the covered parking); an attractive building featuring steps up to a covered wooden walkway to access the upstairs rooms (currently arranged as an art studio and a storage room - 27m² + 18m²). Downstairs, we have rooms of the same dimensions but with better head height, the larger used as a workshop and the smaller, yet more storage. The hangar which runs in a continual line from the main house offers 100m² and is high enough to facilitate the storage of high vehicles. There are small concrete sheds at the far end, and steps to the left there lead up to a raised wooden terrace from where you can survey both your unenclosed garden and the landscape beyond. There are further outbuildings used for wood storage (15m²) and general storage (20m²). Beyond the walls of the enclosed garden, further land (mostly lawn with trees and shrubs) wraps around it on 3 sides.

This is a great house from which to enjoy the peace of the countryside whilst simultaneously being able to access services and community life in a matter of minutes.

There is plenty to do in the area, from the local markets to more specific tourist attractions - the recently renovated château in Mont-sur-Guesnes, Futuroscope/Aquascope, zoos and several châteaux of the Loire all make fabulous day trips. If you are looking to settle permanently here, there are plenty of clubs that you can join, which cater to a wide range of interests and, as someone who's lived in this area for the past 20 years, I can thoroughly recommend it!

In terms of travel links, it's probably a half hour drive to the A10, the ferry ports are 3-6 hours away, there are TGV stations at both Châtellerault (30 mins) and Poitiers (45 mins) - trains to Paris take from around 1h20. Poitiers also has a University hospital and a small airport, which offers regular flights to London Stansted, amonst other destinations.