More large pictures at the bottom of the description

Ribaute is a small winegrowing village (there are about 200 inhabitants) on the banks of the Orbieu river. Ribaute is on a magnificent  part of the river, with a huge mill weir and waterfall leading onto a deep long natural swimming pool. A curved stone bridge spans the river. Across from the village is a large plain of vines and vegetable gardens. Ribaute does not flood but the occasional heavy rains do ensure that planning permission will never be granted to build on the plain opposite the house. Ribaute is one of the most organic agricultural villages of the Languedoc, 70% of all the vines are now grown organically and there is an organic vegetable and fruit grower in the village, bee keepers, fruit, olive and truffle growers. Ribaute does not have a bar or a restaurant but is well served by its proximity to Lagrasse, Camplong and Fabrezan. It is a corner of tranquility in an area steeped in history.

Ribaute is 4 kilometres from Lagrasse and 6 kilometres from Fabrezan, the nearest market town is Lezignan-Corbieres. Carcassonne centre is 30 minutes by car, Carcassonne airport is 40 minutes, Narbonne centre is 30 minutes, the nearest beach Gruissan is 40 minutes. For ski resort, Les Angles is 90 minutes, Mont d’Olme 60 minutes, Ax-les-Thermes-Bonascre 2 hours.

The property consists of two houses, the river house with two terraces over looking the stone bridge and waterfall, and the village house with a terrace in a private courtyard. The two houses have been connected but remain very distinct each with its own electricity and water supply, we wanted to keep the possibility of living in one and making the second into a Gite.

 It is a property on 5 levels with views over the Orbieu river and Mont Alaric, and direct access via a spiral staircase to the river. It is difficult to explain accurately, needs to be seen.

The Village House.
The main entrance to the river house is situated in a courtyard set back from the main street of the village.  Entering through a gate you find yourself on the first of the  three terraces.  This is the largest of the terraces and has a sense of real privacy because the house is set back from the village and the terrace is surrounded by a tall hedge. Off to the side of the terrace there is a set of six steps leading down to the large cave storage area underneath the house, comprising of three rooms- one with its own pig trough.

On entering through the main door of the house you are directly in the dining room and kitchen, the kitchen  has recently be rebuilt in an open plan style with green, yellow and white tiling, a huge work space and halogen hob, it is plumbed in for a washing machine or dish washer. The dinning room has a huge window over looking the terrace but is protected from the midday sun. The staircase to the first floor leads off the far corner of the dining room. We have opened up the stair well and as you mount the stairs to your right is a large  living room with a double set of windows with a french window door over looking the roof of the river house and onto to give a magnificent view of Mont Alaric. We also have put in two velux windows to ensure superb light, the iron balustrade and rail outside the French windows was designed and hand made by the famous local designer and blacksmith Binh Nguyen Van (each of his designs is unique and never repeated).

Straight on from the stairs is a large modern bathroom with a king sized bath, large washbasin and WC, an electric towel heater and fan heater takes the chill off in winter. The bathroom has a small window looking out over Alaric and a velux in the ceiling.

To the right of the stairs is a bedroom with a window over looking the terrace and with views of the church tower.

Back downstairs in the dining kitchen area you can carry on through an arch into the last room of the village house. This room we used as a large office, it is shaded from direct light through there is a tall thin window overlooking the alley below- it is the coolest room in the house with no direct sun, good for computer screens.

The door at the end of the study mark the boundary between the two house. Descending four steps you are now in the river house.

The River House.

This is the house we bought first as our holiday home, and you will see why the instant you step in through the front door.

The front door of the river house is situated one floor down from the connection between the two houses. It is reached by either walking up from the stone bridge, through the old stone arched gate of the chateau or descending down from the main through road of the village. To the right of the door is a small handy cave- large enough for four bikes. The oak door opens on the beamed living room, a set of wooden stairs descents to the kitchen on the right, and a tiled stair case curls up on your right for access to the first flour. The room is heated with a small cast iron Godin stove. At the far end of the room, French windows open out onto a small terrace over looking the river and Mont Alaric.

Descending down the stairs to the kitchen there is an electric oven in an alcove at the back of the room, on your right is a sink and storage unit. At the end are French windows leading out onto a large terrace that over looks the river, from the terrace is a spiral metal staircase that lead down to the river bank. The staircase is the only one on this line of house- and the mayor has refused planning permission for any more else to be built.    

Climbing back up from the kitchen through the living room and up the curled stairs to the first floor on your right at the top of the stairs is a small toilet and wash basin, a large bedroom is over the living room, with views over the river and Alaric.
To your left is a bendy corridor, which really gives the house its eleventh century feel, this opens out into a well lit space, there are two veluxes in the roof and a window on your right, on your left is a new shower room, beyond that is a wooden staircase leading to a mezzanine double bed over the shower and directly under one of the veluxs, under the staircase we have built open storage. You are in fact now standing on a bridge over the alley. The window to your right gives you a view over the alley.

At the far end of this room is the four steps that lead up to the village house.

In addition to the house there is a large garage on a small piece of land which could be adapted into a garden. This is situated on the edge of the village and not next to the house itself. It's about 3 minutes walk.

We have lived and worked in this house for eight years and have enjoyed it thoroughly, we are selling it because we have now bought a domaine in the high Corbieres as our next project. It is an hour’s drive from Ribaute and sadly no longer practical to keep the two.

Ribaute is a quiet village, 4 kilometres down river from Lagrasse, apart from a post office and a primary school the village has very little in the way of facilities. The main shopping centres are Lezignan (15 minutes), Narbonne(30 minutes) and Carcassonne(30 minutes). The village is dominated by wine with a number of independent chateaus, most notably Pech Latt. We also have two bee keepers, an organic vegetable grower- can be found in Lezignan market every Wednesday, and an enterprising villager who keeps us all supplied with fresh home raised eggs and seasonal fruit and vegatables from local producers, as well as organically raised chickens, pork and beef. Two bread vans pass daily 7 days a week. The village has three festivals a year, one for midsummer night and two for the tourists in July and August. ADSL is available in the village from all the main suppliers.

To contact Peter.shield e-mail or Telephone +33 (0)4 68 45 60 77

Large Photos

View from the Riverside Living room terrace

Riverside Living Room

View down river

Kitchen River house

Kitchen Village House

Village House Exterior

Shower room- village house

Bathroom Village House

Access
By Air
Ryanair to Carcassonne-40 minutes drive.
Ryanair to Perpignan- 60 minutes drive
Ryanair to Montpellier 70 minutes drive
Air France, BMI, Flybe and British Airways to Toulouse 90 minutes drive
By Train to Narbonne, Lezignan or Carcassonne-car hire necessary SNCF
By Car exit Lezignan Corbieres A61 10 minutes.

Nearest large Town Lezignan 15 minutes, Narbonne 30minutes, Carcassonne 30 minutes

Beach nearest Gruissan 30 minutes

Ski Resorts 90 minutes Les Angles and Ax-les-Thermes

Barcelona is two and a half hours drive
Gerona is two hours

Contact the owners direct
Peter Shield by clicking here
Peter.shield e-mail

or Caroline Coles
Tel +33 4 68 45 60 77