Mercuès, Midi-Pyrénées 46090

A vast and luminous 19th-century house, its grounds and beautiful valley views in the Lot department near a village, 20 kilometres away from Cahors. The property is easily accessible from the departmental road. A private driveway weaves between trees, bamboo and Mediterranean plants, runs alongside a high stone retaining wall, before finally terminating in front of the house. A parking area is available in the shade of the bamboo and, around a well, a circular space facilitates vehicle manoeuvres. To the left, a runoff collection pond is covered in water lilies.Built at the end of the 3-hectare contiguous property, the house, surrounded by gravel patios, is first visible from its west gable end. To the north, there is a dovecote, separated from the house by approximately ten metres, and trellis gardens that are supported by dry stone walls. Here, the view takes in the forested hill, while to the south, the elegant faade, with its wrought-iron banister, has a wrap-around balcony on the first floor, connecting two covered patios decorated with stone columns, as well as wisteria and other climbing plants on the garden level. Numerous tall windows bathe the interior in light.The property occupies a side of the hill and the house, due to the site's natural slant, has a ground floor on the north side that corresponds with the first floor on the south side. Each slope has its own double door entrance crowned with a glazed fanlight. The stone stairs and walkways in the back of the house lead to the swimming pool located on a patio between sky and foliage. Here, the view proposes a 180 breath-taking panorama, buttressed to the north by the protection of the hill.The grounds are made up of wooded areas, pathways and grassy spaces. The whole has a Mediterranean feeling and is decorated with several flowering plants and stone and metal ornaments.