Condom, Midi-Pyrénées 32100

A characterful Gascon property with a dovecote, a swimming pool and four hectares of landscaped grounds, tucked away in south-west France's Armagnac province. You reach the property via a country lane that runs through woods, close to the medieval village of Larressingle. A stony road leads alongside a stone wall and up a hill. You do not immediately notice the property from the road. You only really see it once you have gone through a tall wrought-iron gate, framed in the estate's outer wall. A first building, behind tall cypresses and climbers, comes into view on the plateau. The lane takes you to a discreet, shady car park that is set back. A gravel drive runs alongside the long main building. A patio extends in the middle of the edifice. The edges of the long building have been masterfully landscaped with a wide range of shrubs planted, including fragrant climbers and acanthuses that stand out from the clusters of plants. The vegetation hides a little flight of steps that takes you up to a swimming pool on a grassy, sun-kissed plot that forms a clearing surrounded by many trees. Beyond the oblong edifice stands an upper-middle-class Gascon house in line with it. It has a terrace edged with box hedges. This splendid dwelling looks out at an open outdoor space and down the property's wooded hill. Between this house and the main building, there is an open-air space for you to walk between the gardens easily. On the south side, there is lush vegetation with a Mediterranean atmosphere. This beautiful outdoor space extends among terraces shaded with pergolas and pavilions. Cypresses and olive trees outline vistas through the vegetation, up to a former dovecote that towers magnificently in the heart of the grounds like in a theatre backdrop.