Niort, Charente 79000

A comfortable, beautifully decorated 15th and 17th century residence in a small town of art between Anjou and Poitou. Located on the most beautiful street in town, a black electric gate conceals the dwelling set at an angle of 45. To the right, the 15th century building is flanked by a pyramid-roofed staircase tower. At the end of the courtyard-garden, the 17th century facade features large windows and basket-arched dormers in the lower slope of the slate roof, which is in a good state of repair. Behind, at right angles, a former coach house has been converted above a covered patio overlooking a second garden, while a third garden stretches out on the other side of the 15th-century building. There are several different ways in. The main entrance extends through the 17th-century part of the building, leading past a breakfast or dining room to the well-appointed kitchen. In the oldest wing of the residence, a vast hallway leads to a first sitting room (or dining room) with a fireplace. This is followed by a large, full-width sitting room with its monumental fireplace, facing the courtyard-garden and the south side. Around a corner, a discreet south-facing bedroom with en-suite shower room and lavatory overlooks the third garden. The tower of the spiral staircase, accessed directly from the large sitting room, leads to a suite (bedroom, study, dressing room, shower room) offering a breathtaking view of the town, the river and the chateau. On the same landing, another original door provides access to a wide corridor serving a further bedroom on the south side with en-suite shower room and separate lavatory, and then, now in the 17th-century section of the building, to two further bedrooms, each with en-suite shower room and toilet (separate in the second). All the rooms have been decorated in a different, distinctive style. The oldest part of the dwelling is built over three cellars and topped by a vast attic under a roof frame in the form of an inverted hull. A closed garage opens onto the courtyard garden. In the second garden, under the kitchen, there is a laundry room. Gas-Fired heating is provided via the travertine floor on the ground level, and via radiators on the upper storey, where the flooring is of hardwood. All the ceilings feature glass wool insulation. The entire residence has a good Internet connection, thanks to fibre broadband and repeaters.