Interior and landscape design project in Gascony in South West France

A DOMAINE IN GASCONY

This beautiful Gascon farmhouse lies in the Armagnac hills of the Gers in South West France and was in need of major internal and external renovation works.

The house and surrounding land had been used as a hunting lodge and then as a working farm and vineyard for two hundred years and had a number of outbuildings and barns which were in very bad repair. The house had been occupied by the same family for one hundred years who only used five rooms on the ground floor, while the rest of the house was used for storage of everything from pre-war newspapers and bottles to vats of delicious Armagnac.


Farmyard and old barn before work began		The same view to the pool after landscaping works


Farmyard at the back of the house before work began		Same view after landscaping work


View South from house before works began		Same view to South after landscaping works


Kitchen before		Kitchen after


Kitchen before		Kitchen after

The aim was to create a six bedroom, five bathroom house with four reception rooms inside with initially small garden area, a swimming pool and terrace and a wildflower meadow outside. The house and garden were to be used by the owner’s friends and family for holidays as well as for occasional holiday lets.

"Outside, it was decided to construct the pool within the surviving walls of one of the old barns which would both provide shelter and a feeling of enclosure and would also pull the landscape into the house."

The wild flower meadow

The budget was limited, therefore there needed to be a phased programme of works. Many of the original features of the house were kept, including fireplaces, terracotta tiles, beams and some of the beautiful internal walls constructed of ‘torchi’ (cob). Four bedrooms and three bathrooms were built within the original attic area, following the basic layout of the original 19th century construction and allowing one huge master bedroom and bathroom of 15 metres x 8 metres across one side. Many of the new walls were constructed in traditional torchi to match the older surviving walls.

"The budget was limited, therefore there needed to be a phased programme of works.."

The drawing room

The dining room

Restored cob walls on the upper floor

Downstairs four tiny poky rooms were combined to make an enormous kitchen of 10 metres x 10 metres overarched by a high vaulted ceiling. The house was decorated in strong primary colours and furnished with a combination of Indian and French rustic furniture.

Outside, it was decided to construct the pool within the surviving walls of one of the old barns which would both provide shelter and a feeling of enclosure and would also pull the landscape into the house. The swimming pool was to be a black reflection pool or traditional ‘bassin’ which would both blend better into the warm stone of the surrounding built environment and at the same time reflect the walls of the old barn.