The house itself is beautiful and has been sensitively and creatively renovated with love, detail, and quality. Set in private sprawling grounds within a village; it boasts large, stylish airy, light rooms, is full of character and style, and has a wonderful welcoming, easy feel.
Located in the rural village of Pouillé, a quiet, friendly village in the Southern Vendee, Nr. L'Hermenault, Pays de la Loire, France.
The house is 30 mins by car to the superb Atlantic beaches, 45 mins to La Rochelle and Ile de Ré.
This house has many repeat bookings and guests rave about their holiday; "you immediately feel at home. It's stylish, yet comfortable; you can see the strong attention to detail and it is furnished and equipped to a unusually high standard"
- There are six bedroom, three of which en-suite
- Additionally there is one family bathroom, a separate toilet on the ground floor and a downstairs shower room.
- There are two separate staircases with two wings of sleeping accommodation.
The Main House
This traditional french farm house/maison de maître has typically very large airy rooms and large french windows, and perfect accommodation. You will enjoy this charming house and its facilities.
Bedrooms (1-3)
- Two of the bedrooms have fabulous contemporary, king four poster beds.
- The third bedroom is complete with two glorious 4ft Antique doubles; so this room can accommodate up to 4 sharing.
Kitchen
The kitchen is well equipped with all the cooking facilities you would hope to expect when cooking for up to 16! It also has a large square dining table for informal eats and kitchen catch ups.
Dining room
The downstairs hosts a large airy dining room seating 16, which is lovely for more formal dining throughout the year, in summer with the french window open, or Christmas and New year with the fire burning!
The house is well equipped for foodies; decent pans, sharp knives, plenty of boards, attractive serving bowls etc!
Sitting room (1/2)
The main house sitting room also doubles up as a movie and music room room. This room is furnished with two chaise-longue, so reading, gaming and movie watching is a real treat! This room also enjoys high ceilings and is spacious and with lovely natural light in the day time.
The Barn
Aka 'the Grange', this wing of the property is a large spacious New York loft style and has three bedrooms, all ensuite:
Bedrooms (4-6)
- A master with super-king 6 ft bed or two 3ft twins if preferred, is very cottage and classic in style and has an adjoining bathroom with a footed stand alone antique bath.
- A further pretty king bed, stone walls, bespoke bed and a bathroom with bath and shower ensuite.
- The third bedroom has 3, 3ft single beds and is a pretty room with a lovely shower room ensuite.
There are electric towel rails in the en-suites.
Sitting room (2/2)
The Grange sitting room is vast with a double height ceiling and gallery. This is a wonderful relaxing room and is lovely and cool in summer, it easily accommodates all the guests. It has additional heating and a large wood burner for chilly winter evenings!
Swimming Pool and pool side living (open 1 May - 10 Oct)
Relax by the heated pool, which is really heated to 26 degrees, while the children play table tennis or games of which there are plenty!
The pool measures 9.5m/4m, 1.5m deep. The pool is heated and has lighting. It is fully serviced. The pool complies with french safety standards and has a discreet safety cover which is easy to operate. We also have a turtle alarm system - The child is alarmed rather than the pool, by wearing a turtle wrist band. Full instructions are provided prior to arrival.
The sun deck around the pool is a great place to relax on a sun lounger or enjoy a glass of chilled French wine on large outdoor sofas at the stylish and comfortable outdoor lounge area.
The stunning terrace is large and also has a spacious covered Kitchen area, equipped with sink, fridge, dishwasher, wine fridge and choice of either Charcoal Bbq or Plancha!
Dine alfresco on the terrace, the pretty white wooden table and chairs provides outside dinning caters for up to 18.
Explore the garden and enjoy the orchard, all fruit is organic and you are encouraged to help yourself to the fruit in season!
The house and gardens are ideal for children and families, couples wanting a romantic and/or rural get away and some peace and quiet, but large enough for groups and small events. There are many areas to the house and garden you can tuck yourself away!
There are many different areas in the garden, try the Courtyard for a quiet coffee where you can find seclusion for reading a book in peace! The wonderful terrace covered in Wisteria and Jasmine provides a great area for socialising and entertaining and the sundowner spot at the end of the central garden path!
For families with younger children
There is plenty of kids play, table tennis, boules, toys and games equipment for playing outdoors.
For babies we have a travel cot, high chairs and stair gates. If you would find it helpful for us to provide bottle steamers, bouncers or anything else, please let us know.
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Whilst many guests agree, it's hard to leave the house; it is a perfect rural base from which to explore the Vendee countryside and its many attractions.
If you can tear your self away from the house and grounds, enjoy the atmosphere of rural France on your doorstep!
There are great walks, cycles and runs through the sunflower fields straight from the door: Markets, Brocante, cycling, forests, Historic Chateaux's to name a tiny few!
Coast/Beach - 40 mins drive to 120 km of Atlantic beaches. 1 hour to the centre of Ille De Re. 45 mins to Pui de Fou - one of the largest tourist attractions in France.
Vouvant, Mervent forest and lake and Fontenay le Comte both 20 mins. Pouillé is a superb location for Attractions, with a Tabac, Boulangerie, Tourist info 5 Mins walk!
More about the house!
The proportions of the house are very large and spacious with most of the rooms around 5m square. We often have friends staying with us and 3 families are easily accommodated. It is rarely necessary to heat the house from May to October, but there are effective, instant, easy to use mains electric heaters in all rooms for cosy winter evenings!
The 2 Wood burning stoves make cosy and atmospheric Christmas and Autumn rentals as do the large fire places in the lounge and dining rooms.
Utility Room:
Utility room includes, utility sink, washing machine, dryer, airer, iron and ironing board and microwave, ice machine. It is adjacent to the ground floor shower room. There is plenty of storage space for food and provisions.
Cleaning / Towels / Linen / changeover service: Quality white bed linen and towels are included!
The downstairs toilet is easily and conveniently accessed form the garden and pool.
The property is cleaned weekly. Please leave the property as you found it!
Additional cleaning can be provided at an additional cost.
Travel - If you are travelling by car, all the ports are easily drivable. Caen and Cherbourg are 4 to 4.5 hours respectively. The nearest port, St Malo, can be reached in approximately 2.5 hours. With a longer drive, the channel tunnel can be reached in 6 hours. If you are travelling by air, La Rochelle is the nearest airport and is approximately 40km away. The airports of Nantes and Poitiers are a 1.10 and 1 hour. TGV is now an excellent option to Niort.
Distances: L'Hermenaut: 4.5km. Fontenay Le comte 12km. Nantes: 100km. Bordeaux 2 hours.
Further Details: There is a local boulangerie, tabac and tourist information. The next village, L'Hermenault, village bakery, mini market, tobacconist, post office, bank, pharmacy and doctor.
Fontenay le Comte offers many cafe/bar/restaurants, various supermarkets and a popular open air market.
