For sale, one deserted village in France. Includes several buildings with exposed beams and fireplaces, a tennis court, a horse stable and even a swimming pool. It was the homesite of Jeanne d’Albret, mother of King Henry IV, and is said to have several springs that have healing powers. Price: $400,000 or best offer.
Hmm, maybe it is time to move to France.
For the cost of one smallish house here in my neck of the woods, we could have an entire french village, Courbefy. Wow–think of how much fun the kids would have. Maybe we could even grow grapes. Of course, I see a couple of problems with this. I’m not sure where I would plug in my laptop, and my husband would have a really, really, long commute.
When the village was originally put up for sale, there were no buyers and the property went to the bank. However, now with some media attention, there is plenty of interest, although many may simply be what real estate people call “lookey-loos,” people who are curious but perhaps not serious about buying. Still, I am sure someone will snap this one up. The bank that now owns the village will be putting it back on the market, this time in the forum of an auction. The deposit for serious buyers is actually $440,000, ten percent higher than the original asking price.
So how on earth did an entire french village go up for sale? Apparently, it was abandoned in the 1970s when deemed to expensive to hook up to running water and small farming plots like those in the village were left in favor of other industry and better education.
Courbefy then became many things, from a summer camp to a luxury hotel. Inevitably, all of those incarnations were failed ventures. Perhaps now, with the price being so low, someone will be able to purchase the village and bring it back to life.
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