Maison Chalendeix, Limousin, Haute-Vienne, Plateau de Millevaches Visibility

About the venue

Maison Chalendeix, a large gîte and workshop room in the heart of the Limousin countryside!

Maison Chalendeix welcomes you to its large group gîte (12 people) for a calm, soothing, simple and authentic stay among woods and meadows. It is a magical place, tucked away in unspoilt surroundings with no noise, visual or light pollution. You can recharge here, and as the sun sets you will often find yourself marvelling at shy roe deer, playful foxes, majestic buzzards and hooting owls passing by.

A peaceful stay just a stone's throw from Lake Vassivière!

Maison Chalendeix sits 540 m above sea level, in the heart of the Limousin, within the Regional Nature Park, where Haute-Vienne, Creuse and Corrèze meet, on the first slopes of the Plateau de Millevaches, known for its lovely hiking trails. It is 10 minutes from the stunning Lac de Vassivière, 5 minutes from Eymoutiers (a charming little medieval town on the Way of St James, where you'll find all the amenities you need), 10 minutes from Beaumont-du-Lac and 20 minutes from Peyrat-le-Château. Ours is a gentle, mellow region on a human scale, modest despite its countless treasures and long history. We'll be delighted to share our experiences with you, along with what we know about the area's history, culture and alternative ways of living locally, and our enthusiasm for life in this beautiful part of the world. We'll even let you in on a few of our little secrets! We live on site and can answer any questions you have.

A lovingly renovated farmhouse for a stay full of charm!

Maison Chalendeix is a 19th-century farmhouse lovingly restored by Marc, a former builder with a passion for fine stonework, with help from local craftspeople. He was keen to bring the outside in: thanks to large windows, every spacious room frames its own picture, so you'll feel part of the landscape! Gaëlle, a former archaeologist, has created comfortable spaces with simple, delicate décor, dotted with vintage finds that often recall the East, her favourite field of research.

A charming eco-renovation!

Tired of city life, we made our home at Chalendeix, a hamlet with a strong character (the name means “bread supply” in Occitan), when our first child was born. We wanted wide open spaces and a simple, authentic life, close to the forests and rivers and the animals that live there. We fell in love with this group of buildings, an old 19th-century farm. So we had to change careers. Marc, a former builder and decorative painter, gave up renovating flats to focus on rebuilding the house, using local materials (granite, wood) and eco-friendly features (wood-fibre insulation, reed-bed wastewater treatment…). Gaëlle said goodbye to her prehistory digs to immerse herself in the history of the Limousin, learn to bake bread and look after cats, dogs, horses and hens…

The building work was a great adventure that lasted 6 years. It took plenty of imagination to turn a cowshed into a large, comfortable and welcoming guest house! 6 years: long enough for us to become part of the place ourselves, and to share our life here in a genuine way. For more than 10 years now, we have welcomed families, couples, friends, solo travellers and artists every year, always with joy and curiosity!

Maison Chalendeix, a charming, authentic and peaceful gîte

Maison Chalendeix welcomes you to its large gîte (12 people, 180 m²), rated 4 épis by Gîtes de France, for a friendly, restorative stay.

The house faces due west onto a lovely terrace overlooking woods and meadows, the perfect spot to relax in the sun with a good book or sip an aperitif to the sound of the little stream running below.

Light floods the interior, which opens wide onto the little valley. It plays over the natural materials (chestnut wood), the carefully chosen vintage furniture, the local crafts and the oriental rugs that make up the house's simple, soothing and delicate decor.

Opening onto the terrace are a large lounge with several comfortable sofas for cosy evenings by the fire, a spacious kitchen-diner with a long table for sharing meals, and a large bedroom for 2 people with its own shower room. The bedroom is accessible to people with reduced mobility.

On the first floor are two spacious bedrooms. Each sleeps 3 people and has its own bathroom (one with a shower, the other with a bath). That's the added bonus at Maison Chalendeix: several people can stay here together in comfort and privacy!

The last two bedrooms, both spacious, are on the second floor. In one of them you can admire the farmhouse's fine original roof timbers. Each sleeps two and, as with all the rooms, has its own en-suite bathroom.

The house is very well insulated, so you'll be nice and warm in winter. During summer heatwaves, the ground floor stays cool because the house is partly sunk into the ground and the vine growing across the front shades it from the sun. The bedroom windows on the upper floors have blinds to keep the heat out. You can also get a refreshing through-draught by opening the windows at night. And since we're 510 m above sea level, temperatures drop once the sun goes down, and the nights are cool and restful.

All the beds are 90 cm singles that can be pushed together to make very large 180 cm doubles. The bedding is good quality, so you can look forward to restful nights and sweet dreams.

Household linen (tea towels) is provided, along with washing-up liquid, dishwasher tablets and laundry detergent, all eco-friendly because the waste water goes into a reed-bed treatment system and the plants prefer natural products. There is a compost bucket outside.

You will also have an iron and ironing board. Baby equipment (two travel cots, a booster seat, a toilet training seat and a baby bath) is available on request. Indoor and outdoor games and a small library can be found in the living room. The garden has a barbecue, tables, chairs, a parasol and sun loungers.

A hairdryer is provided in each bathroom, along with eco-friendly soap and shampoo dispensers.

Maison Chalendeix is non-smoking. Ashtrays are available outside.

If you would like to bring your pet, we would rather talk it over with you beforehand. We love animals and have plenty of them (cats, a dog, free-range hens). Your companion will need to get along with the non-human residents of the house.

We also have two bikes for guests to use.

A huge renovated barn for groups and artists, whether for workshops or residencies!

The last building to be renovated at Maison Chalendeix was the barn, which had completely collapsed. Marc “pushed the walls out” to create a lovely workspace (92m2), then moved part of the farmhouse's roof timbers across to the barn. Abu Simbel! It was incredible. And so the barn became a magnificent hall with exceptional acoustics, a space well suited to artistic creation and to passing on knowledge.

For over 10 years, Maison Chalendeix has hosted workshops (theatre, singing, dance, yoga, qigong, pole dance, clowning, martial arts), training courses (humanistic health, constellations), seminars, residencies and artistic performances, as well as acoustic concerts.

The room can be hired on its own or together with the gîte, which sleeps 12 people in great comfort. The 5 bedrooms are spacious and each has its own bathroom. We have also set up a lovely bedroom above the practice room, with its own bathroom, ideal for organisers who want to rest or work away from the group. Guests have access to the large garden, which can also become a pleasant place to work in fine weather.

The room is equipped with tables, chairs, cushions, mats, audiovisual equipment and a small refreshments corner (kettle and coffee maker). It is heated by a wood stove, which gives it a cosy feel.

The composting toilets are outside, right next to the room.

Meals are taken in the gîte’s kitchen. If you would rather not deal with this yourself, you can call on our partner caterers, who will prepare delicious meals to suit your wishes and needs. We will give you their contact details so you can plan the menu together.

Finally, we have a sauna that seats 2 people per session.