La Chartreuse du Bignac

An hour and a half from Bordeaux, deep in the Dordogne countryside, a beautiful 17th-century manor house once belonging to a Catholic order has been lovingly restored by its husband-and-wife owners and opened to travelers under the name of La Chartreuse du Bignac. It’s a house that’s both grand and yet somehow humble, possessed of a certain ramshackle charm even as the experience is elevated into luxury territory.

The rooms and suites are divided between the main house and a couple of historical outbuildings, and with just 12 units on some 30 acres of land, it’s incapable of feeling crowded. All of the units display some degree of period detail, from timbered ceilings and stone walls to, in the case of the suite made from the old mill, a glass floor looking down into a flowing stream. And as rich as they are with historical charm, they’re also outfitted with high-end comforts, including plush beds and stylish modern bathrooms.

In the old barn you’ll find La Chartreuse’s restaurant, where chef Indy Verbruggen serves modern dishes crafted from local and seasonal ingredients with a view of the estate and the distant hills.