PLAN B: What now? Where to? So much has happened in the US in the past two months. So many are dazed, confused, terribly uncertain. My sister is selling this wonderful property in southwest France. It’s a beautiful, recently renovated private family compound called Terrefort in the heart of the French countryside. I’m trying to help the family by posting it here.
Description: Experience the charm of the French southwest countryside with this exquisite 8,945 sq ft estate in the Lot-et-Garonne region nestled halfway between Bordeaux and Toulouse. Set on 86 acres (35 hectares) of serene land, this recently renovated castle-like property offers the main chateau residence with seven bedrooms, a separate guest house with three-bedrooms, a large 46’ x 26’ swimming pool with 1,450 truffle trees on the grounds. Escape the crowded tourist spots and embrace the tranquility of private country living in one of France’s most beautiful regions. Price: 1,990,000 EUR or $2,186,813 US.
For more information, contact Tim Estin at 970.309.6163 cell/txt or email.
Seller’s Terrefort comments:
Why southwest France?
“ Our friends suggested southwest France as they were from there and love the area…. They described the open agricultural fields, the delicious food and the beautiful forest of les Landes…. When I came to look at the house it was in August and the area was blooming with sunflowers…. It was Magnificent !! SW France is less populated than Provence, less touristy and crowded, and has a very authentic feel to it… There’s lots of history around Terrefort, the nearest town is Castle Jaloux, … And for my husband’s business trips, we are very well situated, conveniently located, between Bordeaux & Toulouse.”
Why we bought the property in the early 1990’s?
“We were living in London at the time with 4 young children looking for a ‘family spot’… Very good friends suggested southwest (SW) France and we fell in love with this 16th century Chateau,”Terrefort”. It reminded my husband of childhood memories of the Italian Villas he visited with his mum…We have spent all these years renovating the chateau including building a 3 bedroom house for my father-in-law where he lived for 20 years.
The children are grown now and live all over the world and have their own lives, but we all have spent many happy years together in Terrefort.
Now it’s time to move on and hopefully pass it on to a family who can enjoy this beautiful property as much as we have.”
Why France you ask… Why NOT France? (13 reasons from a beautiful, smart francophile.)
1) The aren’t afraid to discuss politics and religion and they do it culturally as a form of social consciousness and exploration not battle per se; okay sometimes battle, but not the we-they genre we deal with here;
2) They truly cherish Les Beaux Arts – art, literature, history, and critical thinking is actually imbedded in their educational system. These are my gifts and they are throw-aways in the US; listening in to young people contemplating the life of a given artist in a museum is something you NEVER experience in America;
3) Food has to be proven safe before it can go to market; in the US, it has to be proven fully unsafe to be REMOVED from the shelves, and then only maybe and probably not… (caveat emptor in the fine print) so not only is the food infinitely better there, it is exponentially better for you and it shows;
4) I prefer a walkable lifestyle and Paris is a favorite – streets, and stairs and parks and the metro;
5) The French work to live, not the other way around, and it completely changes the dynamics of the day, expectations, work-life contemplations, although métro-boulot-dodo (subway-job-sleep) is a derision one hears often about city life in Paris;
6) The cheese!!! THE .CHEESE.
7) They appreciate the difference between the sexes and it makes for very different interactions than in the States;
8) I have had nothing but fascinating and invigorating experiences being there, always feel like I’m walking out of a cultural fog and into something that stretches me as a human being;
9) I’m a cafe, people-watching, lingering, contemplating kinda gal and that’s a good place for me to do me;
10) The United States borrowed the basis for our so-called democracy from the French and I am fascinated by the evolution of both, with France being a country that abolished its monarchy in favor of its people and America being one who seems ready to appoint one. The curiosity of it all never ends;
11) They have an universal healthcare system designed for wellness whereas we have a healthcare INDUSTRY designed for monetizing — and in many cases– perpetuating unwellness;
12) I studied the language and culture formally for 12 years, majored in French (accidentally) — aka I studied philosophy, with a heavy existentialistic bent, in French — oy – and my brain will never be the same. I learn more about what I love and loathe about being an American when there than when I am here.
Et Voilà “ Katia
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