Le Moulin de Terrac, what's in a name?

Well in the Corrèze department of France, the letters 'ac' signify that the property had habitation in Roman times. So there was probably a mill there many centuries ago.

There was certainly one there in the 14th century, when the bishop of Toulouse acquired it. At that time the mill pond extended to some 14ha!

The present building was constructed, we believe, in the 17th century, built of locally quarried stone, and it was a working mill operated for a number of generations by a local family.

In 1926 there was a serious fire, as so often happens in flour mills, but six months later it became operational once again with an extra storey having been added. For many years the flour produced was dispatched by train from Chamboulive Station via Uzerche to the finest patisseries in Paris. During the Second World War it was reliant on more local trade, with a walnut plantation, fruit trees, a number of pigs, and cider making!

The adjacent bread oven not only provided bread for the locals, but also acted as a communal oven for villagers' casseroles! During this time, Le Moulin was extended with the provision of storage, and office facilities, known as the Magasin.

The Moulin continued to be operational until the late 1950's when the milling stopped and, sadly it began to fall into a state of disrepair. The deterioration continued, and it was subsequently placed on the market in the 1970's. By chance in 1989 when looking for a new project we found it, and a week later we were contracted to purchase it!

So began the next phase of the moulin’s life!

With sons, and subsequent daughters-in-law and now grandchildren, many friends, family and a number of enthusiastic local Artisans we commenced, and now continue, the restoration of this wonderful old building.

We stripped it back to its basic structure of four walls and a roof, removing all the floors. We then began the process of creating a luxurious, unique and very special house.

In the Moulin there are four bedrooms all with large en suite bathrooms, two on the first floor, and two on the lower ground floor. The ground floor is given over to a very large salon with sofas, games table, Sky TV, DVD player, and Wi-Fi. In the magasin, there is a very large kitchen, cloakroom, and a dining room with a hand carved walnut table that seats 10 people. From the kitchen and salon, there is access to secured front and rear balconies. The rear balcony overlooks, and has access down to a large heated swimming pool with paved surrounding to allow plenty of space for sun bathing on the sun-loungers provided. The pool is surrounded with walls which have three lockable gates for security. Access for car parking is to the side of the Moulin, between it and the bread oven. At the bottom there are two newly built garages which are being converted into games rooms; with table tennis and table football.

Next to the garage is the plant room which houses the pool equipment and the air-sourced heat pump which provides the hot-water, and heating for the Moulin, and the swimming pool. Outside the pool there is an area of about 1.5ha of flat grass suitable for many activities, which borders the River Roujoux, where you can catch crayfish and maybe trout!

The mill pond on the other side of the road at the front is about half a hectare. This was cleared out by some years ago by us, and we have recently repeated this operation which has made an enormous difference to the enjoyment of the Moulin. The pond used to be supplied by three streams – The Chaloux, The Gant, and The Serre. These three streams combine at Terrac and form the River Rujoux which flows into the Correze, and ultimately the Gironde. The pond is stocked with carp, and we have provided two fishing stations. There is also a picnic and BBQ area adjacent to the mill pond.

The wood on the other side of the river is also part of Terrac, so if you are in need of a fire in the salon, there is plenty of opportunity for foraging.

We are extremely lucky to have a large number of friends who look after, clean, and maintain this wonderful property.

We all consider ourselves to be custodians, other than owners of this beautiful place.

View the property.