A Fully Restored Former Farm And Its 19th Century Residence, On The Mont Lozère Plateau In The

A fully restored former farm and its 19th-century residence, on the Mont-Lozère plateau in the midst of nature. The farm, which was formerly an outbuilding belonging to a priory dating back to the 14th century, has preserved several original stone features. During the Wars of Religion from the 16th to the 18th century, this major resistance site welcomed many Huguenots in what was a strongly Protestant region. They found refuge on these heights to organise their defence, worship or escape without denying their faith, before their often definitive departure for far-off Geneva.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the last thatched roofs in the region disappeared, as a result of various fires or the abandonment of the countryside in favour of the city and its more modern comforts. A few ruins remain in the vicinity and bear witness to a past that is merely waiting to rise from its ashes. Some of them were rebuilt in the 1960s and roofed with lauze slate tiles by people who were passionate about rural architecture and by the Cévennes National Park, which developed the lodgings as holiday cottages.

The property is one of three seasonally used houses in a small hamlet. Owing to its remoteness and its official protection as a national park, the area has been preserved, as its inhabitants were not encouraged to give in to modern materials that did not form part of the local culture. Not only the character and type of the buildings have been protected, but also the landscape, which has been given sustained attention so that no visual disturbance affects the well-being of the inhabitants, who still live in harmony with their environment.

The only neighbours are a few horses, flocks of sheep and goats or herds of cattle, but they are kept well hidden away by a tree-filled hedgerow. On the other side of the property, a river, at once watercourse and private natural pool, forms several small waterfalls and leisurely water features, where one can relax without attracting attention, in winter as in summer.
Information on the risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website: https://www.georisques.gouv.fr/