Orne - Alencon - 7 bedrooms, 3 hectares, historic house 5 mins from Alencon.

This impressive honey coloured house dating from the 15th century sits elegantly in the centre of a small hamlet of lovely homes less than 10 minutes from the centre of Alençon and a short drive from the For?t d'?couves.

Alençon was famous for its point d'Alençon lace and for being one of the dukedoms for sons of the king of France. Now it is the capital of the Orne, and as such can offer all the usual services, plus many shops, restaurants and good transport links. It has a pretty centre with a great number of national heritage sites and is surrounded by truly lovely countryside offering a wide variety of sports and recreational opportunities.

The house itself is a seamless blend of medieval hall and 18th Century additions, with large rooms, high ceilings, ancient beams, internal shutters and an abundance of original features. Outside there are stables, a secondary cottage, outbuildings and over 3 hectares of good pastureland bordering a stream.

The house fronts the lane in this peaceful hamlet and the whole property is bordered by high walls, hedges and fences. The garden is laid to lawn and has a various fruit trees, shrubs, herb beds and seating areas. There is a large courtyard, immediately behind the main gates which gives onto both the main house and the maison secondaire.

As you enter the house, whether from the road or the courtyard, you step straight into the first reception room which is medieval in origin with stone walls, high ceilings, a tomette tiled floor, ancient beams and an acacia wood staircase rising to the 1st floor.

This central room allows access one side via an oak door through the metre thick wall to the 2nd principal room, and on the other side another door leads through to the kitchen diner, a breakfast/morning room and a storage/heating room.
The second principal room is the medieval heart of the house. A simply vast fireplace with a fire screen from the days of revolutions is the focal point of the sitting room. The walls are of original stone and there is a stone window seat with footrest, used in ancient times by the ladies of the house to do their needlepoint.
The tomette tiled floor continues from the 1st principal room, as do the ancient beams and high ceiling. There are various niches and alcoves in the walls and windows to the front and rear.
From the sitting room you access a secondary dining room, which in turn flows through to various hallways, a downstairs toilet, and an old oak staircase that rises to the first floor.
From one of the hallways, which has a door into the courtyard, you can access what is currently a studio flat with a large granite fireplace, a kitchenette and separate bathroom. This hallway also lets onto a granite set of stairs which lead up to a landing affording access to a second studio flat with kitchen area, separate bathroom and toilet. Additionally there is a small room accessed from the landing that was originally for vegetable preparation, it still has the old sink in place beneath the window so citizens of old could throw their waste into the street! A further door leads to another hallway with access to a toilet and a door to the main oak staircase landing.
This entire wing of the house can be isolated from the rest of the property thereby allowing for letting or reincorporation into the main house.

From the 1st reception room an oak door leads into a light and relatively modern integrated kitchen with a small dining area and large double doors that lead into a delightful breakfast/morning room with access to a storage room housing the boiler. The glass doors in this room fold away giving access to a small terrace bordered by a low wall and pretty shrubs.

The stairs from the 1st reception room lead to the acacia staircase landing with doors to a small bathroom, separate toilet, and two double bedrooms one of which has steps to a large attic space. Both rooms are carpeted, and the views are onto the courtyard and gardens.

This landing also leads to a short corridor with clothes storage space either side then up a few steps into the ensuite bathroom to the master bedroom. This bathroom is light and airy with bath, shower, sink and washbasin. There is a second door that leads into the very large master bedroom which has lovely chestnut floorboards, high ceilings, period fireplace, internal shutters to a large window overlooking the garden and a door onto the main oak staircase landing.

This landing has a door which is the internal connection between the main bedrooms and the studio flats and this door can be locked to enable the studio flats to be isolated.
From this landing there is a further bedroom which currently serves as a craft room and the oak staircase which rises from the hallway below and continues up to a further large landing which services another bathroom, a large storage room and gives access to an enormous, carpeted bedroom with lovely views across the gardens.

All the windows upstairs are in good condition a (4.90 % fees incl. VAT at the buyer's expense.)