In my recent trip to France to visit my family I thought I might look at a house if I happened to see a nice one for sale. I didn't really think I would see much for my budget but when I began to see how many 'A VENDRE' signs were up & how many properties were for sale I decided to take a peep inside a few.
I ended up seeing 9 properties and could have seen three times as many if I had the time and energy. I was so overwhelmed at how much was available that I had to limit myself to a few criteria. First I decided to only look in one of the three small towns that I loved, Lauzerte, Montcuq and Rocquecor. Second I had a financial limit, with a tiny budget of £100K and finally the property I looked at needed to be have lots of light and not be a dark, dingy damp barn conversion.
I am not going to going to go through them all. I will just highlight 5 that I saw on this visit.
1. Run down 'Artists studio' in Lauzerte for 43K
The front entrance, isn't this great!
View back onto the street from the front door.
The abandoned artists studio has loads of potential for someone with a much bigger budget than I have. We walked through rooms with no floor boards, only compacted mud & broken glass from collapsed windows. There was a huge dark barn area at the back with no windows and a door onto a garden that no longer belongs to the property. Sadly the property is not liveable in it's current condition and is way too much work for me to take on. To combat the lack of light there is planning permission for a floor to be built into the top of the barn with a terrace that overlooks the back garden but there is a time limit on the building permit and it runs out very soon.
The back door onto the lost garden!
Above, the tree in the background of the photo is where the terrace could be built overlooking the neighbours garden.
The man who showed me around this property was doing it as a favour for a family friend who lives in Paris and has been trying to sell this property on behalf of her mother for over 10 years. Jacques had a cheeky smile and twinkling eyes and said he thought they had asked too much for the building but the price was now lower and more realistic.
There are so many empty abandoned properties in this gorgeous medieval hillside town because the kids have moved into the cities. But a new high speed internet link may boost working from home and as Lauzerte is a listed and protected town it has grants and subsidies in place for any projects that will rejuvenate the town centre. I thought momentarily that I could open a chocolate shop but really the inside of the artists studio will take years to rejuvenate.The property used to have a huge skylight in the roof to let in more light but it had to be restricted in size due to the town's heritage listing. Huge glass windows in a roof are not part of the medieval look!
Looking around this property with us was Elisabeth, a local resident who had never seen inside this place as it had been locked up for 10 years. She then went on to tell us her place is for sale so we went over to look at her house.
2. Elisabeth's Swiss Cottage in Lauzerte - 113K
The main house on 3 levels with a balcony.
The entrance through the barn that is part of the property.
This is the barn area that is adjacent to the house. It could be turned into a hostel with bunk beds to be used by the pilgrims on the Camino trail. It could be a restaurant. It could be an artists studio.
The barn cat.
This is the second floor living area. Below is the kitchen and upstairs the bedroom with a balcony.
The view from the balcony.
I liked this house but it worried me that Elisabeth was selling because she felt it was too much for her.
3. Millionaires Mansion 77K might go for 65K
A huge amount of space for the money.
This is a view of the street that the house is on. Both the house I saw and the one right next door, the vets house are for sale. I preferred the front of the vets property where the plaster has been removed to reveal the beautiful stone underneath. The Vets property downstairs could be used as a kitchen with a huge glass window. Or it could continue as a business area, maybe a restaurant or chocolate shop!
Anyway, it wasn't the Vets place that I got to see inside. This is the 3rd level of the house I decided to rename Millionaires Mansion because it has the potential to be a huge luxurious place to live.
The view from the top level of Millionaires mansion. With a huge input of money each level could be turned into a separate flat and rented out. There is no garden with this property but a stones throw away is a public garden with soaring views over the valley.
My brother and nephews in the area alongside the garden, literally opposite the town house.
4. Paddington bear town house in Lauzerte lower town area - 100K could go for 95K
The back patio area.
This is the reason I called this the Paddington bear town house, the swirling central staircase. Valerie, the estate agent's grandparents used to own this house and it was fun looking at it through her eyes with all her happy memories of visits there as a child.
This house had wall to ceiling wallpaper from the 1950's which I actually really liked. There were loads of rooms and potential for a business as the front 2 rooms of the house used to be the local estate agent. Red carpets and pink wallpaper. I loved it!
This part of town is much more alive than up on the hill where the medieval town houses have been abandoned. This is the centre of the village and still has residents living here and a few shops.
The view of the neighbours. New work being done which indicates that this area has people investing in it.
The back patio, very run down now but Valerie said there used to be a huge tree in the centre which they would sit under.
The view across the back, the ugly concrete building is the local secondary school which my nephew might be attending.
5. Beatrix Potter Cottage - Montcuq might go for 75K
Now this house front looks ugly and I wouldn't have taken a second look at it if I was just looking online. But for me this little hillside town of Montcuq is perfect and it was the location that interested me.
This is the view down the street.
The view from the kitchen window.
The whole house felt like an old pre war property in the lake district. Hence the name Beatrix Potter cottage.
The neighbours cherry tree.
The back of the house has an L shaped garden. A couple of tool sheds. This little patio.
This is at the top end of the street. The town centre and market on a Sunday. The surrounding farmland and hills are just viewable through the gap.
That was a quick whistle stop tour of 5 of the properties I viewed.
In summary Millionaires Mansion was probably the best value for money but I did feel that the old medieval town was lacking in life. I loved the happy feel in Valerie's grandparents Paddington bear town house and I really liked Elisabeth's place. But in the end I decided I loved the town of Montcuq the best and if I could find a town house with a garden like the Beatrix Potter house, that would be my ideal set up.
So thank-you France for showing me your beauty and thank-you Vikki for driving me around and looking at houses with me and thank-you handsome Henri for taking over Valerie's grandparents Estate agents and thank-you Valerie for showing me around and thank-you to your twin sister Christabelle for being so kind and friendly (not forgetting Jacques and Elisabeth.)
Montcuq
Belveze