A couple of weeks ago we travelled from our gite in the Dordogne to Lot-et-Garonne to stay in a hôtel particulier in Castillonnès.
A hôtel particuliers is a grand townhouse. Whereas an ordinary house was built as part of a row, sharing party walls with the houses on either side and directly fronting on a street, an hôtel particulier was often free-standing, and by the 18th century it would always be located entre cour et jardin: between the cour d’honneur (an entrance court) and the garden behind. There are hôtels particuliers in many large cities in France.
L’Hotel de Cours de Thomazeau was built in 1770 on the footprint of the early medieval chateau. The building was designed by the architect, Victor Louis who is famous for the opera house in Bordeaux. The current owners bought it in 2009 and have carefully restored the former run down house to how it should be. The house has been stunningly decorated and tastefully finished with beautiful antiques and furniture throughout.
We were very lucky to have exclusive access to the house when we stayed overnight so we got to have a good look around.
We stayed in the Blue Horizons room. A beautiful bright room with 3 double windows overlooking the valley, a perfect room to relax and admire the view. It had a huge bed in it and a single was also put in to make it a family room. There is a spacious en-suite bathroom, a huge wardrobe with a safe in as well as other in keeping furniture. Just outside the room is tea and coffee making facilities and a small fridge to use.
There are five other rooms that can be booked, each elegantly decorated. There are numerous reception rooms that can be used for talks, courses, meetings, get togethers or even a wedding!
The house is open to the public on Tuesdays for tours and a coffee. It can also be booked for private tours and Jennie talks you through her home with such a love of history, explaining what it would have been like when it was originally built and showing you the treasures she has collected over the years.
Have a look around the house on the video below which includes the majority of the rooms and the cave under the house full of water! We really enjoyed our stay, we felt like royalty for the evening, surrounded by such history or luxury. The stay was finished perfectly with pastries, fruit and yoghurt for breakfast in the dining room x
