Cluny, Burgundy 71250

When built for a local grandee, this splendid house was opposite the very entrance to the abbey of Cluny, the largest church in Western Europe until Michelangelo and Bramante outdid it with St Peter's in Rome. Cluny benefitted from the abbey's enormous wealth, and this house shows it. Huge vaulted cellars support it, and each of the two storeys is over 200m² in size. Built in the 17th century, with a lavish make-over in the 18th, the interior has fine original features - such as carved fireplaces, beamed ceilings and wainscoting - which have been preserved and enhanced in the recent renovation. The entrance hall with its flagstones reaches the garden at the rear, and to either side the living quarters : dining room, modern kitchen with a wood-burning stove is the magnificent fireplace, and a claokroom, then on the other side two salons, one of which has charmingly patterned wallpaper, two bedrooms and a bathroom/WC. The stone staircase leads up to the floor above : five more bedrooms and three bathrooms, all with fireplaces, terracotta floor-tiles or parquet. And finally on the top floor there is a series of attic rooms whose high windows suggest that at one point there was a plan to turn this also into living space. The garden is private, with high stone walls. The rooms throughout are generous in size, as befits a fine townhouse of this period, and the charm and character are everything one expects.