Autoire, Midi-Pyrénées 46400

An old stone house and shop nestled in one of France's most beautiful villages with a view of a rocky cirque. This fine dwelling is tucked away among the round and square towers that grace the village's many country houses, which also feature quaint dovecotes - some genuine, others false. The house is inconspicuous, its architecture unpretentious. Its shape softens the angular forms of the surrounding medieval structures and the sturdy remains of the fortified old town. The building was probably made in the fifteenth or sixteenth century as a modest home. It captures much of this castle village's unique history. Its simplicity makes it stands out from Autoire's other houses. Unlike other dwellings in the village, this property does not feature towers, dovecotes, mullioned windows, half-timbering and corbels. Instead, it features straight lines and the stout design of the old block-like houses with upper floors that you find along the Dordogne valley. There are two entrance doors leading into the building. One is on the west side. You enter it at the garden level of the dwelling, at the end of a small garden with a terrace that enjoys a splendid corner spot with a clear, breathtaking view of the nearby limestone cliffs of Autoire's spectacular cirque. The other one is on the north side. You enter it via a courtyard - a former threshing area - at the ground level. This expanse takes you to a large entrance into two shops next to each other, in front of which chairs and tables are placed for customers. At the back of the courtyard stands a fine modern extension of timber boards that runs along part of the facade made of Quercy stone, where a semibasement with a workshop, boiler room and storage space lies.