French property dreams
An historic Knights Templar complex featuring the oldest dovecote in Dordogne is the Holy Grail for Ruth Wood
You’ve got to hand it to the Knights Templar. They have staying power. It’s getting on for a millennium since the military order was established to protect Christian pilgrims journeying to Jerusalem in the turbulent era of the Crusades. It’s 700 years since they were disbanded in bloody and mysterious fashion. Yet here we are today still lapping up films and books about them – the Da Vinci Code and Indiana Jones spring to mind – and looking longingly at the real estate they left behind.
This beautiful complex in Dordogne is one of the hundreds of regional centres – known as ‘commanderies’ – the Knights Templar built across Europe and the Holy Land in the Middle Ages. The international network made them one of the wealthiest organisations in Western Christendom and arguably the world’s first multinational corporation, despite the image they cultivated as ‘Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ’.
Dating back to the 12th century and featuring the oldest dovecote (pigeonnier) in Dordogne as well as an original crypt, the commanderie stands tall on a terraced south-facing hillside that slopes down to a stream. The collection of buildings is just as commanding today as it must have been at its foundation in 1139. Yet its hamlet setting in 7.5ha of grounds and woodland five minutes’ drive from the outskirts of department capital Périgueux means you could easily miss it.
The possibilities here are plentiful: gîte complex, luxury B&B, artisan workshops, equestrian centre, fabulous multigenerational home – you could do it all here.
There are three main houses, offering nine bedrooms in total, all renovated with style using quality materials. The largest house has four bedrooms (including a vast master suite with dressing room), two sitting rooms and a generous country kitchen w
