Maison à vendre à Saint-Aignan

Some people we know are selling their house in Saint-Aignan. They're Dutch, and they've owned this vacation house for 20 years. We were invited over there for a glass of wine Tuesday evening. They asked us to spread the word about the house being on the market.

I found it on a realtor's web site this morning. Here's the description:

Située dans un environnement calme et agréable aux portes de Saint AIGNAN, cette charmante MAISON DE PAYS, SH 150 m², offre en RC (poutres, tomettes) : cuisine A/E, salon avec cheminée foyer ouvert, 1 chbre avec sdb/wc privatifs + une 2nde partie non communicante avec 1 chbre spacieuse, sdb/wc, buanderie - À l'étage : pièce palière, 3 chbres mansardées dont 1 commandée, sdb, wc - Vaste grange et four à pain non attenants - Terrain clos de murs et arboré de 600 m²

and my translation:

Located in a pleasant, peaceful area on the outskirts of Saint-Aignan, this charming country house, 1600 sq. ft., has on the ground level (tile floors, exposed-beam ceilings): a kitchen with cabinets and appliances, a living room with an open fireplace, a bedroom with a private bathroom and WC, plus a spacious bedroom with a separate entrance and a bathroom, WC, and a laundry room. Upstairs, there’s a mezzanine, three bedrooms, a bathroom and WC. There’s also a spacious barn, and a bread oven. The walled-in property (6000 sq. feet) is landscaped.

SH means surface habitable, or living space. WC is water closet, what they call a "loo" in England, I think — in other words, a half-bath (toilet, sink). Often, the room called the salle de bains or bathroom in France doesn't have a toilet in it.

Salon avec cheminée

The house has a bedroom suite with a separate entrance that I haven't seen. The living room and kitchen are spacious and pleasant. One of the three bedrooms upstairs, which appear to be converted attic space (like ours), is accessible only through another bedroom, according to the description (une chambre commandée). I bet that space could be used as an office. That would still leave four bedrooms in all.

Cuisine A/E means cuisine aménagée et équipée — with cabinets and appliances

The house is on one side of a large courtyard, with the barn on the other side. The courtyard is completely walled in. I believe there is more land outside the walls — with fruit trees and room for a vegetable garden, maybe. I'm not sure about that though.

The bread oven (le four à pain)

I of course am doing this post because it's interesting to see what a maison de pays in the Loire Valley looks like. I'm not being paid. The photos are ones I found on the realtor's web site, and you can see more photos by clicking on the this link or the one above. The asking price is under $200,000. Oh, and I should probably point out, in light of the recent flooding, that the house is on high ground.