Combas · Gard · Occitanie

La Vieille
Magnanerie

An early 18th-century stone house in the heart of a village in the Gard. It was the village school, then the town hall. Six bedrooms, a walled garden and a heated pool, halfway between the Mediterranean and the Cévennes.

12Guests
6Bedrooms
10Beds
4Bathrooms
9 × 6Heated pool (m)

The placeCombas, Gard

A house that served the whole village

Combas is just a handful of streets. The house sits at its centre: first the village school, then the town hall. A cobbled lane still runs through it.

Behind the walls: an enclosed garden, a stone washhouse where the village women once did their laundry and where fish now swim, and a nine-metre pool heated from May to September. The high vaulted rooms keep the house cool all summer.

Ronan has been welcoming guests here for eight years. You book direct with him.

The stone façade seen from the garden, blue shutters and clipped hedges — The garden front

The ground floorOriginal cobbles

A lane runs through the house

A very old pedestrian lane, with its original cobbles, passes under the vaults of the ground floor. It opens onto the large sitting room, the billiard room and the kitchen.

It is how you come in, how you get out to the garden, and how you come back at night without waking anyone upstairs.

The vaulted cobbled lane running through the ground floor, open to the garden — The cobbled lane, under the ground-floor vaults

The vaulted passage and its glazed door, limewashed walls

A door opening onto the courtyard from the vaulted passage

An old desk set on the cobbles of the passage

The houseGround floor

Kitchen, sitting room, billiard room

The long table under the vault, in front of the stone fireplace — The long table and the fireplace, under the vault

The kitchen has a range cooker and an American-style fridge; a second large fridge and the utility room sit next to the garage, which is accessed from outside.

The sitting room and the billiard room take up the rest of the ground floor. These are the rooms where the evening can run late without disturbing anyone upstairs or the neighbours.

Vaulted kitchen with range cooker and stone sink

The kitchen dining area, green pendant lights and an old bench

The kitchen dresser and a door opening onto the garden

The sitting room under groin vaults, terracotta floor

The sitting room and its fireplace, colourful cushions

An old school desk and an orange chair by the window — A desk left over from the days when the house was the village school

The billiard table and the sitting area beside it

Barrel-vaulted corridor with a cobbled floor, a school bench along the wall and a view through to a bright doorway — The vaulted ground-floor corridor

The same vaulted run seen from further back, with a relieving arch and an embroidered shawl in the foreground

Desk corner under the vault: a draped mannequin, a typewriter and an anatomical chart on the wall

Grey glazed door open to the daylight, an old ladder and a milk churn under the round-headed vault

Dried teasels in a copper churn in front of a wood-framed mirror, with the room beyond

The vaulted kitchen, its stone fountain sink and the opening onto the garden — The kitchen's fountain sink

Kitchen table under two green industrial pendants, door open onto the terrace

Wide view of the vaulted billiard room, red floor tiles and a glazed bay to the left

The billiard table and its alcove, small-paned window, black star and hessian cushions — The billiard room alcove

A built-in bench dressed with cushions, demijohns and pampas grass under the running vault

The vaulted entrance and its cobbles, door open onto the planted courtyard, a 50 sign and a slate on the wall — The entrance, open onto the courtyard

The billiard room, filmed in June

The houseUpstairs

Six bedrooms, four bathrooms

Bedroom	Beds
Master Suite	1 king-size bed, 1 sofa, 1 cot
Parents' Suite	1 king-size bed, 1 cot
Fig Tree Suite	1 king-size bed, 1 sofa, 1 cot
Asian Room	1 double bed
Tintin Room	4 single beds
Metal Room	2 single beds

The three suites each have an en-suite bathroom with a walk-in shower. Every bedroom is air-conditioned, with its own unit.

Bright bedroom, bed facing the window, exposed beams

Bedroom with an old bench and a wall map of France

Bedroom with old posters and tall windows

Bedroom with walls of old frames, terracotta floor

Simply furnished bedroom, limewashed wall and old engravings

Bedroom with ochre walls and an old chest of drawers

Children's bedroom lined with framed Tintin covers — The Tintin Room, four single beds

Two single beds under the wall of covers

Table and chairs in front of an old door, terracotta floor

OutsideWalled garden

The heated pool, the courtyard, the washhouse

The courtyard, in the shade of the olive tree

The pool alongside the village stone wall — 9 × 6 × 2 m, heated from early May to late September

The pool, the wooden decking and the red parasol

The pool is big enough to swim proper lengths. Around it: a lawn, wooden decking, sun loungers and shade at any time of day.

In the evening the summer kitchen takes over: plancha and Argentinian asado grill. The boules (pétanque) court is in the middle of the garden. Table tennis and trampoline under the trees.

The stone washhouse at the far end of the garden is now a fish pond.

From the garden to the pool deck

The garden, the sun loungers and the house behind

Yellow sun loungers on the lawn and the wooden decking

Table tennis table in the shade of a tree — Table tennis and trampoline under the trees

The trampoline at the far end of the garden — The far end of the garden

The stone washhouse surrounded by bamboo — The washhouse, now home to fish

The bamboo and the water of the washhouse

The courtyard under the vine trellis, tables laid

The gravel courtyard and the stone façade

The large tree in the middle of the courtyard

Pots and plants against the courtyard stone wall

The summer kitchen, plancha and Argentinian asado grill

Shaded terrace under a leafy arbour — The shaded terrace

Long table laid under the vine trellis, wicker pendant lights — Meals outdoors, under the vine trellis

On siteTaken from the listings

Facilities at the house

Private pool, 9 × 6 × 2 m, heated from early May to late September
Summer kitchen: plancha and Argentinian asado grill
Boules (pétanque) court
Billiard room
Table tennis table
Trampoline
Air conditioning in every bedroom, one unit per room
Wi-Fi indoors and outdoors (Livebox 7)
Range cooker, American-style fridge, second fridge
Utility room
Garage, accessed from outside
Patio
Games and toys for children
TV
Easy parking in the village
Smoke and carbon monoxide alarms

NearbyPays de Sommières

Combas and the area around Sommières

Le Comptoir d'Alexis, the wine shop and grocery, is 100 metres from the house. L'échoppe du Suc, the organic grocery, is 150 metres away; across the street, a bread and pastry vending machine.

Coming soon to the village: a restaurant and a patisserie.

In summer, local growers set up stalls at the roundabouts around the village. On Saturday mornings there is the market in Sommières. Everything else you can explore on foot: the vineyards, the olive groves, the remains of old quarries, the Bois de Lens nature reserve, and the village heritage trail, created recently.

The house, and above all the garden and its lush greenery, will make you feel you are in the middle of nowhere, lost in time.
Ronan, host (translated from the French)

Château de Villevieille11.8 km · 15 min
Sommières, tourist office11.8 km · 16 min
Le Village des enfants15.6 km · 19 min
Nîmes Vacquerolles golf course23.6 km · 25 min
Nîmes arena26.7 km · 32 min
Fons-Saint-Mamert station11 min
Nîmes-Garons airport34 min
Montpellier airport55 min
Electric vehicle charging pointunder 5 min

Driving distances and times, from the Abritel listing.

Where the house is

Combas, between Nîmes and Montpellier. The map shows the village; the exact address is given on booking.

Summer festivals: the fêtes votives

Every village in the Pays de Sommières holds one in summer. Abrivado and bandido (bulls run through the closed-off streets), courses camarguaises (Camargue bull games) in the arena, a peña (brass band) playing late, dances and long tables under the plane trees.

Sommières has the biggest of all. Dates change from year to year: the tourist office publishes them in spring.

Fête votive de Sommières, tourist office

Your stayRead before booking

House rules

Peace and quiet between sea and mountains

You are in the heart of the village: there are people living behind every wall.

The houses in the old centre are built into one another. Around 10pm the neighbours open their windows to let the cool air in. Noise from the garden carries straight to them.

We know this house lends itself to entertaining. It is also a family house, in a village lived in all year round. It suits families and groups of friends looking to unwind; it is not a party house. Ronan says so plainly in his listing; you may as well read it here.

01
No parties, no events.
02
No music, karaoke or musical instruments outdoors, especially around the pool.
03
No noise in the garden after 10pm. A midnight swim is fine, without diving or bombing.
04
Children play freely between the pool and the trampoline; it is up to parents to keep constant shrieking in check, as it carries a long way.
05
Keep the street clear: stop in front of the house only long enough to unload bags and shopping, then go and park.
06
The evening carries on downstairs: billiard room, sitting room, kitchen.
07
No drone take-off from the garden without authorisation from the relevant authorities.
08
E-bikes: let us know before you arrive, as the batteries are charged in a ventilated room.

Check-in from 5pmCheck-out by 10am12 guests maximum

Abritel and Airbnb

Guest ratings

10/10

Abritel (Vrbo France) · 63 verified reviews

In the top 10% of rated properties in the region. 100% of groups gave it 10/10.

5.0/5

Airbnb

Guest favourite. Among the top 10% of listings.

Years hosting

Ronan replies to 100% of messages, within an hour. He speaks French, English and Spanish.

ContactEmail, phone or WhatsApp

Book direct with Ronan

Tell us your dates, how many of you there are and the ages of any children. Ronan replies within the hour.

The exact address is given on booking. The village lies between Nîmes and Montpellier, in the Pays de Sommières.

La VieilleMagnanerie