La Girarde

Tucked away amongst acres of sunflower fields and vinyards, La Girarde is a totally charming combination of elegance, comfort and family-friendly practicality. Guests lucky enough to snap up one of the rare high summer weeks during which it is let as an exclusive 4-bedroom villa, with private pool and huge gardens, is bound to have developed a serious case of lifestyle envy for its friendly expat owners, Mark and Trish Tyler, who live in it and run it as a Chambre d’Hote (guest house/b&b) during the rest of the year.

The house enjoys an idyllic rural location with little but rolling rural landscape as far as the eye can see and few sounds but for the local birdlife, yet it is very convenient for some of the area’s most beautiful towns and cosmopolitan cities. The pretty and vineyard-stuffed town of Duras is just 10-minutes drive to the east, whilst the lively market town of Sante-Foy-La-Grande and St Emilion are both a few miles to the west, plus several villages between. Pretty Bergerac and sophisticated Bordeaux are within an hour’s drive, or much less by fast train from Sante Foy.

The picture-perfect rustic exterior hides a sophisticated modern interior where elegant Farrow and Ball shades, oak floors, limestone -clad bathrooms and all mod cons abound. There are two sitting rooms, one with large flat screen TV, music system, Wii, Wi-Fit, games, books and a selection of toys, along with multiple comfortable sofas, ideal as a family room, and the second being a very elegant drawing room with more sophisticated furnishings, best suited as an adults retreat. The huge and well-equipped kitchen boasts all mod cons including dishwasher, Nespresso etc. plus a sociable, granite topped island unit with bar stools and door onto the pool terrace, making it a popular spot for evening drinks whilst the nominated chef has supper on the go. There’s also a spacious dining room equipped with multiple highchairs, a booster seat, along with the oak chairs and tables.

Along the corridor from the drawing room is a fair-sized double with ensuite bathroom, whilst a further super king/twin (convertible) bedroom also with its own ensuite is set down the hall. Upstairs (un-gated) are a further two bedrooms comprising a double and a super king/twin convertible, both with large ensuite bathrooms accessorised by complimentary luxury toiletries. All bedrooms have room for cots with the downstairs super king and upstairs double being the most spacious.

The expansive grounds include over an acre of grassy lawns, suitable for ball games or toddler roaming, and a good-sized, walled swimming pool, tucked to the side of the house, behind a decked outdoor dining area. The deck, which boasts a lovely hardwood dining table and chairs set, along with a BBQ, is the only access to the pool, which is otherwise enclosed by ancient stone walls on three sides (one side having a door to the kitchen), so, as long as an adult was on the deck, a toddler could not access the alarmed pool without being spotted.

The fact that the owners bedrooms are set in a closed off separate wing, and not occupied when the house is rented, is a bonus to guests as it means that they pay the price of a four-bedroom villa, but enjoy the greatly increased downstairs space of a much larger house of fairly grand proportions.

The fact that clients booking through Baby-Friendly Boltholes have the reassurance of reserving baby gear and, once booked, one to one contact with English owners, parents themselves, who are happy to advise on the local area and arrange extra services such as daily or mid-stay cleaning, full or part-time cook or house-keeper, and babysitting, make La Girarde the perfect spot for a memorable and relaxing multiple or expanded family break