Domaine de la Vène

Set in the Corbières hills above Palaja, twenty minutes from Carcassonne, Domaine de la Vène occupies 630 acres of protected land threaded with cedar forest, meadow and hillside herbs. The Graham family found the place in 1999 as a ruin and rebuilt it slowly, filling its rooms with Georgian, Victorian and French antiques gathered on their travels. Thick stone walls keep the main villa cool through summer. The house runs to 1,100 square metres and sleeps up to sixteen across eight bedrooms, with seven bathrooms, two drawing rooms with fireplaces, two kitchens and a cinema room. The Provençal Suite has flagstone floors and original beams, with arched doors opening straight onto the pool. The Mulberry Suite holds a bed frame dating to the 17th century, once at Ardgowan House. Elsewhere, the Palombe Suite looks out to the Pyrenees from an original turret. The adjoining Bergerie Cottage sleeps six more across three bedrooms, with its own kitchen and a Moroccan-style bathroom. Ten acres of garden surround a pool with stone terracing and shaded dining; beyond it, the wider estate runs to lavender, thyme and olive groves. You can hear cicadas by day and nightingales after dark. Carcassonne's medieval citadel and several Michelin-starred restaurants sit within a short drive, the Mediterranean coast under an hour away.