Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Charente property - what makes it special?


I was chatting to an old colleague from Chestertons this week-end and he asked me that very question.

"I know you love it out there Graham, but what makes the houses so special"?

The answer was threefold:


  • the cost of land & housing. Even with the pound & euro at virtually identical levels you can still find a beautiful family home for around €250,000.

  • the landscape. Regular readers will have gathered that I love the region deeply - and not just when the vines and sunflowers have their annual battle for your attention.

  • the care that the "artisans" take when renovating the older properties. The stone masons were adding a terrace to my in-laws house and when they finished they had created a couple of wonderful carvings into the stone at each end because they felt it was "appropriate", no charge of course.

I know that everyone has different views on what they want & don't want in an area (it's what makes the world such an interesting place) but I really do feel that we struck lucky back in 2003 when we decided, on a whim, to book into a hotel in Jarnac overnight.

www.cognacproperty.com

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