Gîtes Lacombe in Black Perigord: A family history

The history of Gîtes Lacombe began in the early 1980s, with the purchase of the “Petits Moulins”, which were former outbuildings of Château de la Roussie in Poissans. We live in the heart of the Périgord Noir and a stone’s throw from our home, this completely ruined complex was ideally located between the Vézère Valley, the Dordogne Valley and a few kilometers from the Medieval City of Sarlat.
Back then we were only farmers, producing tabacco, walnuts and breeding pigs and we wanted to diversify our activity. We spent pleasant moments renovating this lovely mill as a family.

During the works, an English seasonal rental agency came to greet us by offering us an interesting rental management proposal! At that time, the Dordogne was still “in its own juice” barely known for its caves. It was the start of tourist activity and the Périgord quickly aroused the enthusiasm of holidaymakers.

Driven by our love of old stones, in 1987 we invested in 4 groups of ruined houses, to be renovated at our own pace and always with the family. Apart from the plumbing and electricity, we took care of all the work, including our agricultural machines for the structure of the house.

These renovations were completed in 2004, thanks to the help of our entire family which has since grown. We have 3 children including 2 who work with us. Since 2008, our daughter Audrey provides rental management, which is now done exclusively by us.  Today we have 10 houses to rent, a new renovation project is in progress…

Some of our cottages before and after renovation