French country house requiring gas and local water? (7)
I believe the answer is:
chateau
'french country house' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'gas and local water?' is the wordplay.
'gas' becomes 'chat' (both can mean to talk).
'and' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'local water?' becomes 'eau' (I have seen 'French water ' mean 'eau' so perhaps 'water' could also mean 'eau'. I am not sure about the 'local' bit.).
'chat'+'eau'='CHATEAU'
'requiring' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for chateau that I've seen before include "French stately home" , "Impressive dwelling in France" , "Castle, especially in France" , "Impressive French building" , "Large French country house" .)