Saint-Flour, Auvergne 15100

A charming manor house and its enclosed garden of 850 m, 45 minutes from Saint-Flour, in the Volcanoes of Auvergne Regional Natural Park. Slightly below a public square on a very quiet street, the rectangular edifice, with its partially sloping garden, faces northeast/southwest. With five stories, including two below street level, which look out over the garden thanks to a number of windows, it has a symmetrical row of four windows on the ground floor, flanking the five front steps that lead to the house's massive central door topped with a fanlight, while the first floor has a row of five windows perfectly aligned with those on the lower level. As for the high, sloping roof, in slate stone, it is punctuated in the middle by a dormer window, whereas on either side, four small low windows are vestiges of the former presence of four other dormers. Built out of volcanic stone masonry, its plaster-coated walls are decorated with arkose stone window/door surrounds, while, to the south, a small courtyard, accessible from the street via a gate, makes it possible to access the lower floors, the woodshed and the garden, the latter of which provides panoramic views of the surrounding countryside, with the Monts Dore and Czallier mountains in the background.