Welcome to LA HUNE, Mansonville 82120. This extraordinary house, situated slightly apart from the village, has a commanding view of the valley, and is recognisable from many miles away. It is one of the oldest houses in the village.
Its name means 'the look-out' or 'crow's nest', as on the tall masts of ships. The house's early history is unknown, but it is certainly over 350 years old and built entirely of local stone. The relative absence of windows recalls a time when a hot sun was not a particularly welcome element of life in the country. The house originally had substantial grounds, which are now used principally for farming.
One past use of the house appears to have been as a house of instruction for nuns in the nineteenth century; it was used for some years as a refugee centre between 1940 and 1943 when this part of France remained free, but was commandeered in 1943 for eighteen months by the occupying German army. After the war, it was used as a health and fitness camp for children, after which it lay empty and dilapidating until I bought it with my father in 1997 and had it extensively restored according to the original architectural design. The swimming pool was added in 1998. It is a house built on a large scale, as you will find when going from one room to another or up and down the stairs.
The property lies within the fenced and walled areas, and also extends beyond the wall on the swimming pool side down to the road and includes the unfarmed margin up to the road sign.
Our aim has been to create a place of calm in one of the calmest and quietest parts of France. There are no plans to install either a television or telephone. Those with mobile phones can normally get a signal in parts of the garden nearest the village, but this should not be relied upon. Mobile phone reception is a little easier in the village itself or in the nearby village of Bardigues or town of Auvillar.
Lionel & Allison Stanbrook
03.09.01