Le Vieux Mas, Fanjeaux

Lying in the rolling foothills of the Pyrenees below the hilltop village of Fanjeaux is Le Vieux Mas. Parts of this charming, restored farmhouse date back to the 11th century.

The house is situated at the centre of ten acres of manicured grounds and parkland surrounding a shimmering, tiled swimming pool and a soft-impact shaded tennis court. An added bonus during high season is vegetables from the kitchen garden and eggs from your own chickens!

That rare thing, this is a house that comfortably sleeps up to 18 people in eight bedrooms – perfect for a really large family party or group of friends.   Beautifully decorated and presented, the main sitting room and bedrooms are light and airy in pale creams and whites.

Off the original 11^th century hall, is the main sitting room which has plenty of good seating and French doors leading out to the large south-facing gravel courtyard. Here there is a vine-shaded seating area with outdoor sofa and chairs. A large circular table with umbrella and five curved benches seats 20.

The extremely good sized and professionally equipped “country” kitchen also leads out to this courtyard.   For more formal dining, the interior dining room also seats 20 and has French doors opening onto a shaded north terrace with further outside dining here and views across the lawns to the pond and the hills beyond.   Most of the rooms on the ground floor open onto either the north or south terraces. All the bedrooms are on the first floor, accessed by the main staircase and the small staircase leading from bedrooms 6,7 and 8 down to the library on the ground floor.

There is so much to do here. Apart from the pool and the tennis court, there is badminton, table tennis, volleyball, boules, a children’s play area, mountain bikes to use and even an archery set! Everything has been thought of to create a holiday house to suit everyone. You are close to a number of little villages as well as the towns of Mirepoix and the celebrated walled city of Carcassonne. There are plenty of good restaurants all within a ten minute drive of the house.