Bordeaux to Longeveau: golf, a manor and nearby Aubeterre

Longeveau is located in southern Charente, in the Aubeterre region, near the border with the Dordogne. The estate is 105 km from Bordeaux and six kilometers from Aubeterre-sur-Dronne. The Golf d'Aubeterre – Manoir de Longeveau has the mailing address 16390 Pillac (official source). Longeveau is a hamlet known for the Manoir de Longeveau estate and its golf course.

A hamlet on the border between two municipalities

The Aubeterre Golf Course – Manoir de Longeveau has a mailing address of 16390 Pillac (official source). The neighboring town of Nabinaud also has a hamlet spelled “Longevau,” which explains some variations on maps.

The Aubeterre region, between Charente and Périgord

Surrounding Longeveau lies a gentle, wooded landscape—that of southern Charente, which gradually gives way to the Périgord: hillsides covered with Cognac vineyards, oak and pine forests, and lush valleys. The Dronne, a river over 200 kilometers long that originates in Limousin, flows just a stone’s throw away on its way to Aubeterre and, further on, to the Isle and the Dordogne. This is a region of boundaries—administrative, geographic, and linguistic—where the Saintonge, Angoumois, and Périgord converge. It was precisely this sense of being in a quiet corner of the world that captivated the estate’s British founders in the 1990s.

Golf is just one part of Longeveau: surrounding the course is a full-fledged vacation resort—a former Cognac wine-producing château, said to date from the ^16th century, restored and surrounded by 34 to 35 stone cottages, complete with swimming pools, tennis courts, a bar, and a restaurant. It’s a place with two sides: a golf course by day, a year-round residential estate by night, with a strong British identity. Here’s what it has to offer.

Thirty-four to thirty-five stone cottages surrounding a manor house

The Longeveau Manor is described as an ancient winery, a restored cognac château; it is generally believed to be of a respectable age (16^th century), although the exact date and style of the building are not well documented—so we remain cautious on this point. What is certain is its current use: the estate offers 34 to 35 stone cottages and villas, featuring oak beams and fireplaces, scattered around the manor and the grounds, with heated pools, tennis, bar, and restaurant. People come here with their families, but also for weddings and seminars: The setting—light-colored stone, lawns, old trees, and countryside stretching as far as the eye can see—is perfect for this. In its own way, it’s a small, discreet, and elegant rural resort.

A British enclave in Charente

There’s a touch of England about Longeveau. The estate was purchased in 1992 by two British couples, the Peacocks and the Gammons, who built the golf course and the vacation village there; and has been run by Olivia and Richard Peacock since 2007. This story is no mere anecdote: for decades, the Charente-Dordogne border region has been one of the most sought-after areas of the French countryside among English-speaking clients, who have purchased farms and manor houses there. Longeveau is the perfect example—a former cognac cellar transformed into a golf course and cottages, where you’re more likely to hear English than the Charente dialect. A slice of “British countryside” nestled in the hills of the Cognac region.

Why the British Chose This Country

The case of Longeveau is not an isolated one: since the 1980s, the entire South Charente region and neighboring Périgord have seen a large British community settle there, drawn by affordable stone houses, a mild climate, the proximity of the Bergerac and Bordeaux airports, and a certain way of life—wine, markets, unspoiled countryside—that no longer exists across the Channel. Many have opened vacation rentals, bed-and-breakfasts, or small recreational estates, much like Longeveau. Golf, the quintessential British sport, found its natural home here: creating a course amid former cognac vineyards meant offering this clientele the setting for their ideal vacation. For French visitors, the experience feels like a change of scenery—a corner of the Charente where tea time goes hand in hand with pineau tastings, and where the signs in the clubhouse are often in English.

A Turnkey Getaway in the Countryside

What makes Longeveau so special is its “everything on-site” concept: you can settle in for a week and never have to leave. The stone cottages, scattered around the golf course and the manor house, offer the privacy of a country home with the amenities of an estate—heated pools for the kids, a tennis court, a bar and restaurant so you don’t have to cook every night, and the golf course just down the road. It’s a very British model of a country vacation: a country retreat where you alternate between golf, relaxing by the water, and excursions to the surrounding villages. For weddings and seminars, the setting—light-colored stone, lawns, tall trees, and silence—offers a sought-after backdrop, far from the hustle and bustle of the cities, halfway between Angoulême and Bergerac.

Longeveau’s nearest neighbor is Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, six kilometers away: a white-stone village perched on a cliffside, listed among the Most Beautiful Villages of France, and above all home to a stunning monument—an entire church carved out of the rock, the tallest monolithic church in Europe. It alone is worth the detour. Here’s why.

A Cathedral Beneath the Rock

The Monolithic Church of Saint John in Aubeterre was carved into the limestone cliff as early as the 7^th century, then significantly enlarged in the 12^th century by Benedictine monks. The result defies imagination: a nave approximately 20 metres high, the equivalent of a six- or seven-storey building, carved entirely out of the rock in a space approximately 27 metres long by 16 metres wide. At its centre stands an extraordinary six-metre-high hexagonal monolithic reliquary, carved from a single block and inspired by the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem; it is said to house relics brought back from the First Crusade. A necropolis containing approximately 170 graves remained buried until 1865; 80 sarcophagi were unearthed between 1958 and 1961. Designated a historic monument in 1912, the church has two “sister” monolithic churches in France: the one in Saint-Émilion and the hermitage of Saint-Martial in Mortagne-sur-Gironde.

Three "sister" monoliths in France

The church in Aubeterre belongs to an extremely rare family: that of the monolithic churches, carved rather than built, of which there are only three major examples in France. Its two “sisters” are the Monolithic Church of Saint-Émilion, in the heart of the famous Gironde wine region, and the Saint-Martial Hermitage in Mortagne-sur-Gironde, on the estuary. Aubeterre is known for its height of its nave—about twenty meters, the tallest in Europe according to the tourist office—though Saint-Émilion surpasses it in floor area. Having all three within a day’s reach, around Bordeaux and the Charente, is a privilege of the region: three sacred caverns carved out of the same limestone, centuries apart, by the faith and patience of men.

An artists' village by the water

Above the crypt, the village itself is worth a leisurely stroll: steep alleyways, light-colored limestone houses, a square lined with arcades, and the Romanesque Church of Saint-Jacques with its carved façade. Aubeterre—whose name means “white earth,” alba terra—stretches down to the Dronne River, where a river beach and a water sports center bring the town to life in the summer. It’s the kind of town where you park your car at the top and lose yourself on foot, wandering between a potter’s studio and a shaded terrace. The contrast with the absolute tranquility of Longeveau, six kilometers away, sums up the appeal of the stay: a peaceful golf resort as a base camp, and one of the most beautiful villages in France for an evening outing.

Longeveau and the entire Aubeterre region are part of the Cognac wine-growing area, and more specifically the Bons Bois cru—the vast outer belt of the appellation, with sandy and clay soils, the least calcareous of the six crus. The manor itself is a former Cognac estate: here, the vineyards form the backdrop to everything. This is the setting.

The second-largest vintage by area

Cognac is classified into six crus, as defined by the decree of January 13, 1938, following the work of geologist Henri Coquand (around 1860), within a designation of origin established as early as 1^st May 1909. Aubeterre-sur-Dronne, and therefore the Longeveau area, falls within the Bons Bois cru. Contrary to a persistent misconception, this is not the largest cru: it is the second in area, behind Fins Bois. Bons Bois forms a wide ring around the central crus, on soils that are sandier and less chalky; its eaux-de-vie are more rustic and mature faster than those of the prestigious Champagnes. This is an everyday cognac, frank and direct: the terroir of the countryside where golf courses have sprung up on former vineyard land.

From the Vineyard to the Green

The story of Longeveau encapsulates, on a small scale, that of many estates in the Charente region: a wine estate that, in the wake of the cognac crisis and with the passage of time, has found a new lease on life through tourism. Here, it was the British who converted the wine cellars into vacation rentals and the land into golf courses; elsewhere, people have turned their properties into bed-and-breakfasts or wedding venues. But vineyards stretch as far as the eye can see, and a tour of a winery or a tasting at a local producer is the perfect way to round out a day in the great outdoors. Just an hour’s drive away, the town of Cognac and its grand houses—see our guide to Cognac—offer the luxury version of the same region.

Cognac or Pineau: an evening drink

The curious traveler won’t leave the Aubeterre region without sampling its two liquid treasures. First, there’s Bons Bois cognac—bold, straightforward, and best enjoyed neat or in a long drink—which you can find at the local distillers and small producers dotted along the area’s roads, often at much more affordable prices than the big brands in the city. Next, Pineau des Charentes: this mistelle, born from the blend of grape must and brandy, served chilled as an aperitif, is the quintessential social drink of the Charente region. Many estates open their cellars to visitors and offer direct sales by appointment—an opportunity to bring back, rather than a mass-produced souvenir, a bottle bearing the name of a neighboring estate and the story of an encounter. After a day of golf and exploring villages, it’s the perfect way to round out the evening on the terrace of a stone cottage.

Longeveau owes part of its charm to the Dronne, one of the most beautiful rivers in southwestern France: more than 200 kilometers of clear waters flowing from the Limousin region, a valley designated as a Natura 2000 site, and a string of villages — with Aubeterre at the forefront — dotted along its banks. It is the natural axis around which everything revolves. That is why it matters.

Two hundred kilometers of protected natural areas

The Dronne River originates at an elevation of approximately 479 meters in Bussière-Galant, in the Haute-Vienne department, and flows for more than 200 kilometers before joining the Isle River and then the Dordogne River; it is therefore, technically, a tributary of the Dordogne. It borders five departments and flows through both Brantôme, upstream, and Aubeterre, very close to Longeveau. Its valley, between Nabinaud and Aubeterre, is protected under the Natura 2000 program (Special Area of Conservation “Dronne Valley from Brantôme to its confluence with the Isle,” 2014 decree): cool waters, wet meadows, and riverside forests are home to rare wildlife. It’s the perfect setting for canoeing, swimming, and fishing—the aquatic counterpart to golf and the vineyard-covered hillsides.

From Brantôme to Aubeterre, the same water

A detail that will appeal to fans of sentimental geography: the river that winds around Brantôme—the “Venice of the Périgord,” with its abbey and caves—is exactly the same one that, a few dozen kilometers further on, laps at the feet of Aubeterre and Longeveau. You can thus follow the course of the Dronne from one charming village to the next, from the Périgord Vert to the Charente region, without ever losing sight of the same tranquil water. For a stay in Longeveau, the itinerary is clear: follow the river upstream toward Brantôme or downstream toward L’Isle, as if following a secret path. Canoe enthusiasts happily paddle down the gentlest stretches, between gravel banks and curtains of willows; anglers hunt for trout and grayling; casual strollers are content to take a break on a shaded bank, listening to the flow of one of the clearest rivers in the Southwest—a tranquil luxury, just a stone’s throw from the green.

A private transfer from Bordeaux to Longeveau starts at €193 one way for a 105-km trip that takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The fixed price is provided before booking. If you don’t have a car, the nearest train station is Chalais, on the Angoulême–Bordeaux line.

By car from Bordeaux

The route leaves Bordeaux via the A10, then takes the N10 and the roads through southern Charente. The website’s route calculator estimates 105 km and approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes. To reach the clubhouse, enter “Manoir de Longeveau, 16390 Pillac.” With a chauffeur service, you travel from your home, Mérignac Airport, or Saint-Jean station directly to the estate. Prices start at €193 and are confirmed before the trip.

Without a car: Chalais, then the road

The nearest train station is Chalais (~18 km), served by TER trains on the Angoulême–Bordeaux line; Angoulême (~44 km), which has better service (including direct trains to Bordeaux and Paris), is the other point of entry. From either station, you’ll need to continue by car: there is no public transportation to the hamlet. For a golfer carrying equipment or a family heading to the vacation rentals, the simplest solution is a private transfer all the way from Bordeaux, or taking the TER to Chalais and then hiring a driver. Once you’re there, everything is within a few kilometers: the golf course, Aubeterre, the Dronne River, Poltrot—a quiet little world where the car is used only to move from one pleasure to the next.