Mezel, Auvergne, Address available on request

In the heart of a village located just 17 km from Clermont-Ferrand this former castle-palace of the bishops of Clermont was built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. With a quadrangular plan flanked by a tower at each corner, it has retained its exceptional defensive system: walkway, battlements, loopholes and curtain walls.  To the east and west, two parallel dwellings remodeled in the seventeenth century frame the inner courtyard. To the north and south, the high walls have retained their battlement and moulded Romanesque bays.

A major restoration campaign has just been carried out and has focused on the roofs, facades, door frames, central heating with city gas, the creation of an apartment and 6 bedrooms with bathroom.

The house is, raised partly on cellar, offers on the ground floor an apartment of 46.75 m² including a living room with open kitchen, two bedrooms and a bathroom.  Access to the floors is via a beautiful stone staircase of the seventeenth. On the first floor: two bedrooms each with its private bathroom. On the second floor: two bedrooms each with its private bathroom.  On the third floor: two bedrooms each with its private bathroom. Part remains to be renovated internally: on the ground floor, a boiler room, a vaulted room and a commercial space overlooking the street.  On the first floor, three rooms and an alcove. On the second, two bedrooms and a bathroom. On the third, two bedrooms and a bathroom. This house develops in total about 428.07 m² of living space.

The west house offers on the ground floor a commercial premises of 282 m² including a professional kitchen, two beautiful vaulted reception rooms of 57.95 m² and 125.65 m² and sanitary facilities. In the basement: a vaulted cellar of 111 m² and two other vaulted cellars of 78 m² and 52 m². The premises and cellars are currently rented to a restaurateur for a monthly rent of 1,136.

Above, a former room of arms or reception of the princes bishops of Clermont of 173 m². It is illuminated by two very large Gothic bays richly molded trilobed.

From the walkway a vast panorama extends over the Sancy massif and the entire chain of Puys.

The architectural qualities and the historical past of the castle justified an inscription in the Supplementary Inventory of Historic Monuments in 1926. Under certain conditions, subsidies and tax exemption for the work are possible. It is therefore not subject to the Energy Performance Diagnosis.

This vast complex would be ideal for a tourist, cultural or hotel activity. Already generating income, it could also be devoted entirely to rental use.