Detailed description

The Vendoire peat bogs and the Miallet dam, as well as the Saint-Estèphe lake, are part of a network of streams and rivers that irrigate the area, including the Isle, the Dronne, the Côle and the Bandiat.
This small manor house with its medieval appearance offers its future owner a trip back in time with all the comforts of today.
The staircase with its monolithic granite steps and its large mullioned window in the façade and the stone fireplaces bear witness to the nobility of this construction.
The small town of Montbron is 13 km (8 miles) away, Angoulême, a much larger town with a TGV train station, is 39 km from the property. Brantome la Venise du Perigord vert is 38 km away. Bordeaux is 157 km away so about two hours drive.
I would like to mention here that I was also responsible for the two previous transactions which allowed me to see the evolution of this property.
We have been very lucky, the two owners who have succeeded each other since 1991 have shown great taste and the necessary means to achieve a timeless quality renovation.

Room designation
Landing 13,80 m2
Large bedroom (level 1) 41,42 m2
Bathroom (level 1) 21,54 m2
Small bedroom (level 1) 39,60 m2
Library hall or room (level 1) 19.37 m2
Artist's studio or bedroom (level 1) 49.49 m2
Shower room Workshop (level 1) 37.42 m2
Shower Ground floor 3,51 m2
Study or bedroom Ground floor 32.18 m2
Kitchen 39.89 m2
Living room 47.15 m2
TOTAL 270.74 m2

History at your fingertips

Périgord and history are two inseparable concepts. Not only has the region been steeped in history since the earliest times, but even today you can still see evidence of turbulent times at every turn. For example, there are the caves of the Stone Age people with their artistic rock paintings. There is the female figure of the Middle Ages, Eleanor of Aquitaine, the mother of Richard the Lionheart and herself the heroine of many novels and biographies. And there are the countless castles and châteaux that are now often used as film sets - Jean d'Arc by Luc Besson was partly filmed at Beynac Castle.

Early history
At the beginning of the 19th century, prehistoric remains were found, especially in the valley of the Vezérè and near Les-Eyzies-de-Tayac. Remains of charcoal, kitchen waste, tools, weapons and objects made of stone and bone were discovered on rocky outcrops and in caves. Because the finds were so significant, the respective historical era was named after the places where they were found, e.g. the Périgordien (Grotte du Pech Merle, 30,000 - 20,000 BC) or the Magdalénien (La Madeleine - Grotte du Lascaux, 18,000 - 10,000 BC). But it wasn't always scientists who tracked down the prehistoric souvenirs. The world-famous Lascaux cave was discovered by chance. Children were looking for their lost dog, but instead found the grotto with its unique rock paintings.

So the Périgord has been inhabited since the Palaeolithic Age. As the found hand axes and scrapers showed, people who used fire and hunted big game and knew simple stone working already lived here about 2 million years ago. About 150,000 years ago, Neanderthals developed better tools so that clothing could now be made from animal skins. Finally, Homo sapiens sapiens arrived in the Périgord in the Neolithic period, 35,000 years ago. Remains were found in the rock overhangs of Cro-Magnon on the Dordogne, which - called Cro-Magnon man - formed a new group of Homo sapiens sapiens.

The first rock paintings were also created at this time. They used a kind of negative technique: hands were placed on the rock, sprayed with paint from the mouth and thus outlined in red or black. Over the millennia until about 10,000 BC, the art of animal painting was perfected. Thus there were elaborate animal sculptures, the first perspective representations and even transportable art objects.



Roman period and early Middle Ages
Julius Caesar conquered Gaul in the years 59 - 51 B.C. In 16 B.C., Emperor Augustus founded the province of Aquitaine and made Vesunna (Périgueux) the capital of the area inhabited by the Petrocorii tribe. In the following three centuries, the region experienced an epoch of urban development. Not only were public buildings built, but crops were introduced that are still important today, e.g. wine, walnuts, chestnuts. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476, the Frankish king Clovis conquered Gaul ten years later. Périgord became a county of the Kingdom of Aquitaine in the 8th century. In the 9th century, there were repeated Norman raids, the valleys of Dordogne and Isle and Périgueux were devastated. In 1066, William the Conqueror conquers England and centuries of conflict ensue between England and France.

Conflicts between England and France
Things get complicated from 1152 onwards. After her marriage to the French King Louis VII is dissolved, Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine marries the Englishman Henry Plantagenet. He is already Count of Anjou, Prince of Maine, Touraine and Normandy, she had recovered her then dowry - the Aquitanian estates - after the divorce. In 1154 Henry Plantagenet also became King of England. Admittedly, the French possessions were still fiefs of the King of France. However, the territory over which Eleanor and Henry ruled was far larger and richer than that of Louis VII. The balance of power was definitely disturbed.

The French king naturally took advantage of his feudal sovereignty to punish any offence committed by his subject by depriving him of lands. In the end, only Aquitaine was left in English hands (but this was even securitised by the Treaty of Bretigny in 1360). As a border region between England and France, the Périgord was particularly contentious in the 12th and 13th centuries. This was clearly noticeable in the Dordogne valley. The castle of Beynac on the right bank, for example, belonged to France, while the castle of Castelnaud on the opposite bank was English and they attacked each other. At that time, both the English and the built the bastides, fortified villages built according to a geometric plan.

Philippe VI was anointed French king in 1328. However, the English king Edward III had doubts about his legitimacy and claimed the French crown for himself. Nine years later, the 100 Years' War broke out, in the course of which marauding bands of robbers and poorly paid mercenaries devastated the country rather than major battles. It was not until the French won the battle of Castillon on 17 July 1453 that the English possessions in France came to an end.



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Information about risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website : https://www.georisques.gouv.fr