France/€845,000: Novelist Mary Ryan's domaine on 30 acres of parkland in Aquitaine is the kind of place that French dreams are made of. Rose Doyle reports
With its tree-lined avenue, ornamental lake, lavender-bordered forecourt, 30 acres of surrounding parkland and a 13th century village just down the road, Domaine de Guirot, St Justin, Gascony, Bas Armagnac (between Biarritz and Bordeaux) has a head start when it comes to the stuff of which dreamy, idyllic French period houses are made.
To the French manoir born in 1850, the Domaine de Guirot leads up entrance steps under a canopy of glass and wrought-iron through a double front door to a traditionally-tiled reception hall and a drawingroom leading to a wrought iron conservatory.
Naturally, because this is Aquitaine and priorities matter, there is a vast, shelved wine cellar running underneath. Koi carp and water lilies lurk together in the ornamental lake too.
Everything - and that includes a library, diningroom, office, oak-beamed kitchen and five bedrooms (three of them en suite) - has been lovingly cared for by novelist Mary Ryan.
"I saw the house advertised in Belles Demeures magazine, came to see it and fell for it. It appealed to the romantic in me. It's beautifully proportioned and has lots of lovely tiles, fireplaces and some ceilings."
As for the location, she adds: "It's an absolutely gorgeous area, tranquil and beautiful and the heart of gastronomique France. Everything is free range, it's foie gras country! Food is a religion.
"The nearby village of St Justin has a boulangerie and very good restaurant overlooking a 13th century square."
She is selling, reluctantly, because she needs to downsize. The property, which includes a two-bedroom apartment in a converted 19th century barn and a two-storey cottage with a walled garden, is on the market at €845,000 through Palmer Property Advisors in Dublin.
The guide is an indication of the very real difference, still, between property prices in this country and rural France.
Domaine de Guirot is a gracious, comfortable 409sq m (4,400sq ft) house with large rooms, high ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows. There's room for friends and family to visit - or new owners could refurbish and rent the eight second-floor rooms, once servants' quarters.
The large drawingroom, which has an original parquet floor, ceiling plasterwork and fireplace, measures 32sq m (345sq ft).
The library and diningroom are about the same size. The predictably large kitchen has oak beams and a stone fireplace with wood-burning stove.
The five bedrooms are off a vast landing on the first floor. On the floor above, the one-time servants' quarters are lit by a series of skylights.
Outside is a converted 800sq m (8,600sq ft) oak-beamed barn which includes a 144sq m (1,550sq ft) apartment. The rest is given over to a couple of garages, stabling and large loft.
Domaine de Guirot is proof of the popular truth that when you buy property in France you buy a lifestyle too.
The area around is soaked in history and in rural pursuits, like the local chasse which combs the forests for deer and wild boar and celebrates with a feast of spit-roast boar and venison in the square of the nearby village of Labastide d'Armagnac.
The Pyrenees and Spain are just over two hours drive away, it takes an hour to get to the Atlantic coastline and it is less than two hours' drive to either Biarritz or Bordeaux airports - both of which are served by direct flights from Dublin.
