In the middle of the Gers countryside, behind its high limestone walls, the small town of Lectoure purrs in the sun, refreshed by the underground springs. On a clear day, the Pyrenees chain stands out in the distance. In this promontory city on the road to Santiago de Compostela, Christèle Ageorges, scenographer and decorator, and her husband, Hubert Delance, have succeeded in transforming a former royal tannery from the 18e century abandoned in a monastic and refined guest house. Both walkers, each year they do part of the route of the Puy route.
In 2017, when they discovered, below Lectoure, the long stone building, which had been on sale for several years, they were immediately won over. “The exterior of the building was splendid but the interior was devastated, very dark and damp behind the bricked up windows. Strangely, we immediately felt good there, says Christèle Ageorges. I was at a point in my life where I wanted to move on. This place offered me a nice page board. » And five years of colossal work to transform the 1 200 square meters in poor condition in a comfortable and elegant residence.
“I was inspired by the surrounding nature, these are my favorite colours: faded pinks, lichen or artichoke greens, hemp beige or dove grey. » Christèle Ageorges, stylist
As soon as the financing was secured and the craftsmen at work, the stylist began to post images on Instagram and the place began to exist. Studio Foltzer – friends – sketched the visual identity and the website. The couple ends up selling their Paris apartment to settle full-time in the tannery. And finally, at the beginning of the summer of 2022, the family home began to welcome its first guests in residence coming to join the community: their children, Léonie and Théodore, in their early twenties, and their friends, photographers and decorators.
The entrance is through the north porch. A double spiral staircase leads to the upper courtyard, below: under a huge lime tree, in front of the main building with its royal frontispieces and the two convex pavilions, deckchairs are arranged in a circle around wooden logs. “A glass of homemade lemonade, perhaps?” » Christèle Ageorges receives simply, her black hair held back in a ponytail and the linen apron tight at the waist. We can imagine the energy and tenacity deployed to carry out the project. Here, everything breathes order and harmony. We are struck by the beauty and serenity of the place.
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