Lamothe, Auvergne 43100

A 17th-century village house with an old inn and courtyard, near the town of Brioude in France's beautiful Haute-Loire department. The property is a former inn whose business activity dated back to the 17th century. An inscription in the courtyard still reads: 'Cadet innkeeper's room, lodgings for travellers on foot and horseback'. It lies on the edge of the mound of an 11th-century castle that has now disappeared, or more precisely on the vallum - the defensive enclosure. From the street, the facade comes into view like an imposing rampart, through which a carriage gate leads into the lush inner courtyard. On the right, a small flight of steps leads up to the main dwelling, beside which there is a terrace in the shade of a kiwi tree. The house has two levels: a ground floor with reception rooms and a first floor with a convertible loft space, above which there is a dovecote. On the left, there is an inn, which is still in its original architectural form. You step into it through an arched door of dressed stone. Upstairs, there is a hayloft, which you can reach via an outdoor flight of steps. At the end of the court, there is an open-sided agricultural storehouse beneath a mezzanine, which you can reach from the terrace via a passageway. A row of three cellars, one of which is arched in a winemaking style typical of the Auvergne region, completes the property.