The Cottage Gite. A 150 year old cosy stone cottage with in ground pool.

The Cottage is an old stone building set in a rural location in the Charente region of France, in between Poitiers and Angoulême in the South West of France. It was restored 6 years ago and was used as a family holiday home. It shares the large space with the owner's converted barn. The climate of the Charente is one of the mildest in France. The region gets 40% more hours of sunshine than in the U.K.

The Cottage has its own private terrace which can be used for sitting, evenings drinks and barbecues. It is a traditional cottage of the region and has very thick stone walls, keeping it cool in the summer. When we renovated the Cottage, we used it as our holiday home for 4 years before moving into the Barn. It was never designed to be 'just' a holiday rental with the cheapest of furniture, decoration and equipment.

There is a large garden which guests can use and there is a private pool. We have parking on the drive immediately outside the Cottage.

As a traditional house of the time, it probably never had 2 storeys. We have no idea when the upstairs was added (long before us!). This means that the ceilings upstairs are lower than normal. There are 3 double bedrooms. One larger and 2 that are very comfortable if smaller. There is a bathroom with toilet and shower.

The kitchen, dining and living room are one long space and the end of which is a log burning stove. Winter has always been one of our favourite times to use the Cottage with a blazing fire, a good book and some good food and wine. The kitchen is well-equipped with a 6 ring stove and electric oven. There is a fridge-freezer and washing machine and access to a tumble dryer.

It has always been a family holiday home, and we think it still has that feel to it. Friends who have stayed here describe it as cosy, friendly and charming. We are very proud of it.