Room by Room

Kitchen

Fitted kitchen with stone sink, ceramic halogen hob, eye-level multi-function oven/grill, twin refrigerators, separate freezer, coffee machine, dishwasher and washing machine.

Dining Room

Linked to the kitchen through an original stone archway, the dining room features exposed oak beams, full sized fireplace with canopy, large farmhouse table with seating for eight, and the stairs up to Chambre Antoine. A high-chair is also provided. Below the stairs is a writing desk with the Livebox5 fibre-to-the-house broadband router.

Lounge

The lounge is comfortably appointed with quality furniture, stone benching, and provided with plenty of books and traditional games. There’s UK satellite TV & radio, a DVD player with a large collection of family films and an Audio Pro sound system that also provides bluetooth outdoor streaming. Double French doors lead out to the garden.

Chambre Clement

A cosy, quiet room looking out to the woods.
Used as either an escape from the children or, by using the ClikClak in its bed mode, becomes a compact downstairs double bedroom. Bring your paints too! Clement features pictures and drawings of Maison Boye kindly donated by previous guests.

Shower room

Large walk-in style glass panel shower with toilet and washbasin. Conveniently located on the ground floor to provide easy showering before/after a swim, and also, because it's next to Chambre Clement, can be used as this bedroom's "nearly ensuite".

Chambre Antoine

With its own staircase from the dining room, Antoine features a natural wood floor, Euro King bed (larger than a UK King sized) and a hidden "walk-in" wardrobe.

Antoine's ensuite has a bespoke glass shower cabin, boutique toilet, and a designer washbasin installation, all set off with blue tinted mood lighting.

Chambre Baptiste

A large and airy bedroom with flexibility in how it’s used.

The most popular configuration for Baptiste is to have a jumbo double under the flowing canopy with two singles at the far end. This is ideal for parents with young children (a cot is also available) who want them nearby, or just as a very spacious double bedroom.


Another arrangement is to uncouple the divans that make up the double and then have the room set out as four singles – great fun for older children to share as a dormitory. Baptiste also features a writing desk and Sony Playstation with games to suit all ages.

Family Bathroom

Large bath with dual high/low shower, twin washbasins and toilet. Conveniently situated between Baptiste and Delphine

Chambre Delphine

A farmhouse style double room with Euro King sized bed.


Exposed oak beams and a windowed pigeonier feature characteristic of the region.

About the area

Maison Boye is set in an idyllic location, within easy walking distance of the lively medieval market town of Caylus in a region of outstanding natural beauty.

Limestone plateaus, wooded valleys and dramatic gorges form a stunning backdrop to life here.

Caylus offers visitors a wonderful introduction to the area’s celebrated gastronomy - from simple breads baked in wood-fired ovens and excellent local cheeses, through richly flavoured duck and pork dishes, to remarkably good-value fine dining. All accompanied by crisp whites and deep, plummy red wines, which you can sample before buying at the local caves.



Despite its warm welcome, Caylus remains refreshingly unspoilt by mass tourism and has avoided the heavily Anglicised feel found in parts of the Dordogne or Provence. The locals are genuinely friendly, pleased to see visitors, and more than happy to patiently understand your best school French!

If your idea of a perfect holiday includes relaxing by the pool, enjoying country walks and eating well in friendly local restaurants, then this is very much the place for you.

For the more energetic, tennis courts are within walking distance of the house, volley ball at the nearby lake, white-water canoeing a short drive away at Saint-Antonin, and horse riding and golf all within easy reach.

The arts also feature strongly in the region, with regular live music - often free - alongside crafts, museums and galleries. The world-famous Toulouse-Lautrec museum can be found in nearby Albi.

And if you’re tempted to stay up late, there's nothing better than simply sitting outside at Maison Boye, glass in hand, marvelling at the astonishingly clear view of the Milky Way thanks to the area’s exceptionally low light pollution.

The photographs above show Caylus, its market square and lakeside restaurant. Below are images of the front dining room at Renaissance (which also has street tables and a charming summer terrace to the rear), the lakeside volleyball courts, and even the Tour de France passing through.

Booking information & Scam protection

To reserve your holiday, simply email us with your preferred dates at paul@boye.co.uk

Once arrangements are confirmed, we will ask you to download the booking forms, complete them, and return them to us by post.

The house rental price is unaffected by the number of guests staying and includes all local rates and taxes, reasonable electricity, water and broadband usage, as well as house cleaning and pool maintenance.

We ask for a 25% booking deposit, with the balance payable 8 weeks before the start of your holiday. A refundable inventory deposit of £150 is also required to cover lost keys, serious breakages, or excessive utility consumption.

To be fair to smaller parties, the cost of laundry is not included in the rental price. Instead, we provide a £35 per person laundry service, which covers bed linen, duvet covers, pillowcases, bathroom towels, and tea towels. A baby cot with mattress is available - but no laundry is provided for it.

All payments and deposit refunds are made via online banking.

Changeover days are usually Saturdays, although we can be flexible outside the main summer season to take advantage of cheaper flights or to fill reduced-price gaps.

To allow time for cleaning between lets, occupancy runs from 4pm on the day of arrival to 10am on the day of departure.

The property is self-catering, but to help you settle in, we provide fresh soaps, toilet and kitchen rolls, bin bags, and a supply of dishwasher and washing machine tablets.

Upon receipt of the completed forms and deposit (or full payment if booking within 8 weeks of arrival), we will confirm your dates in writing and send you our Arrival Information Pack.

The inventory deposit will be refunded, less any deductions, after the keys have been returned and we have received the itemised utility bills for your stay. This is usually completed within a couple of months after departure.

We welcome family groups, couples, and well-behaved pets. Unfortunately, we do not accept bookings for events such as stag or hen parties, and references may be requested where appropriate.

Scam protection

We have never experienced a scam at Maison Boye, nor has anyone ever been scammed in connection with it. However, due to recent scare stories and for your complete peace of mind, we feel it's sensible to explain how you can be confident that your booking with us is entirely safe.

Reported incidents usually involve scammers posing as the owners of overseas villas by copying genuine property listings. They take bookings and payments from unsuspecting holidaymakers, who then arrive to find the property already occupied by the real owner’s guests. Scammers can appear convincing by offering “proofs” such as utility bills, which may be fake or obtained by deception (for example, by posing as a cautious enquirer and asking the real owner to provide them).

Fortunately, there is good independent advice available on how to avoid this situation. Below are some simple and effective ways to verify that your booking with Maison Boye is genuine.

Are you looking at a genuine advertisement?

We only advertise Maison Boye on one specialist website, Simply Owners, with occasional late offers listed on eBay or Gumtree. If you have seen the property advertised elsewhere, it is likely to be an unauthorised listing—although we have occasionally found it mentioned on recommendation sites without our knowledge.

All genuine advertisements will direct you to our own website boye.co.uk.

Are you dealing with the real owner?

We are Paul and Claire Downham. Our email address, paul@boye.co.uk, is a clear indicator, and we are always happy to answer any questions about the house, the local area, or travel arrangements - details that a scammer would not reliably know.

You can also use any WHOIS search service to check the ownership of the boye.co.uk domain name. You will see that it has been registered to us since August 2000. This is a strong test of authenticity: while scammers can create convincing sounding domain names, they cannot backdate them.

MOST IMPORTANTLY - Who are you paying?

All deposits and balance payments are made directly into our personal bank account via online banking. Your bank will verify that the account name matches ours before payment is completed. All postal correspondence is sent to or from our home address in Cambridgeshire.

You should not be paying anyone else for anything - no agents, no intermediaries, no cash payments, and no card payments.

Have you got a key?

Our policy is to send you a numbered, returnable front door key by post a few weeks before your stay. If this is not possible (or if you forget to bring it!), we provide access via a hidden on-site emergency key. Any alternative arrangements - such as meeting someone on site, being given a KeySafe code, or any last-minute changes to the arrangements, would be wrong.

Contact

Reviews

We’ve been delighted by the number of guests who have either recommended Maison Boye to friends or returned for another stay themselves. In fact, the majority of our bookings now come from repeat visitors - which we feel is the best “review” we could hope for.

That said, we know that guests booking for the first time will naturally want to see what others have said about their stay at Maison Boye, so here’s a live link to the review section of our SimplyOwners listing:

House Documents

Here are the latest copies of our house documents in PDF format.
Click on any image to open up the contents for viewing, downloading or searching.

If your PDF browser doesn't display a search box, hold down the Ctrl button then press F.



2026 House Book

26 pages of information covering
everything you need to know about
the house, its equipment and the
local area.







Indesit Washing machine

Washing cycles, controls, and
general instructions.









Beko Dishwasher

Controls, options and
general instructions.











Kenwood Combination Oven

Controls, operating instructions and
cooking guides.









Logik Ceramic Hob

Controls, operating instructions,
safey lock and timer guide.









Dolce Gusto Coffee Machine

Controls, general information,
coffee options and cleaning guide.









Audio Pro Sound System

Operating instructions, charging
and linking to devices.

Number of Guests

Accommodation at Maison Boye is spacious, flexible, and designed to be shared.

There are four bedrooms, Baptiste, Delphine, Antoine and Clément:

Baptiste is usually arranged as a spacious family room, with a jumbo double bed beneath the flowing canopy and two singles at the far end. This setup works well for parents with young children who want them close by (a cot can also be provided), or simply as a very generous double bedroom. Alternatively, the divans can be separated to create four single beds, making Baptiste a fun dormitory-style room for older children.

Delphine is a double room on the same landing as Baptiste, separated only by the family bathroom. This makes it particularly suitable for parents whose children are sleeping in Baptiste.

Antoine has its own ensuite and a separate staircase, offering extra privacy. It is ideal for grandparents or anyone who prefers a quieter, more self-contained space.

Clément located on the ground floor is perfect for overnight guests, a teenager’s retreat, or those who prefer to avoid steep stairs. It features a clic-clac — the French alternative to a sofa bed — which is a full-sized double that folds into a comfortable sofa, rather than a standard sofa that converts into a less comfortable bed.

Although these configurations allow the house to sleep up to ten (eleven including the cot), in our experience it's groups of four to eight that enjoy the house at its best: dining and patio tables are comfortably sized, there is generous poolside and lounge seating and everyone has space to relax.

During the low season, Maison Boye is also popular with discerning couples who appreciate the value and freedom of staying in a proper family house rather than a cramped property designed solely for two.

Welcome

When you stay at Maison Boye, you enjoy exclusive use of the entire house, its grounds and swimming pool – and with no neighbours in sight, you have the rare luxury of complete privacy.

Location, Location, Location!
It took us three years of searching to find this magical combination of an idyllic rural retreat with nearby shopping, bars and restaurants.

Maison Boye is wonderfully peaceful, yet the lively medieval market town of Caylus, nestled in the Bonnette valley, is just a couple of minutes’ drive away — or better still, a pleasant twenty minute stroll along a quiet country lane where you might meet a friendly donkey hoping for a treat, cows heading home to be milked, or a sun-loving lizard warming itself on a stone wall.

This balance of seclusion and convenience is what makes Maison Boye truly special.

And while this area remains refreshingly unspoilt by mass tourism, there’s tons of things to do for all ages here. White water canoeing, horse riding, cycling, tennis and golf are all nearby, alongside historic castles to explore, live music, world-class art and culture – but only if you can drag yourself away from the swimming pool, badminton, pétanque and other attractions at home!

Character, comfort and space
Maison Boye is a traditional stone house set within over an acre of private grounds. Lovingly restored, it blends authentic French character with modern comfort. Thick stone walls, exposed oak beams, quarry-tile floors and a traditional log fireplace sit comfortably alongside bright contemporary bathrooms, a modern kitchen and a full range of home entertainment.

Outside, a raised patio with stone barbecue sits beneath a bamboo pergola — perfect for al fresco dining – and from here, a gently sloping sun terrace with wooden loungers and a swing seat leads down to the private swimming pool, where an external Wi-Fi repeater provides internet coverage for those that wish to stay connected.

The swimming pool
The pool measures a generous 10m x 5m, with semi-circular Roman steps into the shallow end, a water slide into the deep end, and halogen underwater lighting for those delightful evening swims.

It uses an automatic filtration system with modern, environmentally friendly low chlorine treatment and, in keeping with the natural surroundings, there is no intrusive fencing - instead, a discreet alarm system ensures compliance with French safety regulations.

Thanks to the open countryside to the south, the garden and pool enjoy sunshine throughout the day, while the oak woodland to the north provides the shelter and shade typical of this beautiful Quercy region.

Easy to reach
Access to this region has become very easy. Low-cost flights now serve all the region’s airports including Toulouse, Rodez, Brive and Carcassonne, while for those travelling by car, the new French motorways now extend to within ten miles of the house making the journey from the UK quicker and far more relaxed than ever before.

La france profonde:
Maison Boye is an old house set in a relaxed rural location, where its charm lies in authenticity rather than polished perfection.

The thick stone walls are home to nature so expect to see some insects, be fascinated by the lizards, maybe a mouse in the house, a wild boar in the woods, and cows in the fields. There are exposed oak beams you can walk into, floors at differing levels between rooms, and summer storms can occasionally bring brief power cuts.

The grounds are a French idyll, not an English rose garden - expect wild flowers, mole hills, natural borders, outcrops of rock and lots of space and fresh air.

Maison Boye is a lovely place to stay, a wonderful retreat for walks, rest and the easy going pace of backwater France, but this may not suit everyone — city dwellers can find the sight of the Milky Way in the totally dark night sky overwhelming or the lack of traffic noise unsettling, while perfectionists will lose their battle with cobwebs — but for those seeking space, privacy and character, Maison Boye definitely offers something special.