Time for a change?

It is not very often that you hear people waxing lyrically about how happy they are living the corporate dream. That is because there is no corporate dream, generally you are just a number in a role that is only safe as long as the shareholders remain satisfied. Ask me how I know!

Normally, "the dream" is about getting away from all that painting by numbers nonsense and becoming a free spirit driven by a desire to do well with your own business, in charge of your own destiny. The rewards related to your effort and hard work coming directly to you and the family. This dream may even involve moving to a new country, in our case France.

You are probably reading this and thinking it is easy for me to sit here and say that, but there are many people who have made the change and moved to France to successfully pursue a dream of a better life. There are of course a lot who have tried and failed and that illustrates the need to do as much homework as you can before moving and be aware of the potential pitfalls, perhaps ensuring you have polished those rose tinted spectacles before committing.

Whilst we specialise in waterside properties and fisheries we are also interested in selling property that offers the purchaser an opportunity to take over a successful business or develop a new business within an existing infrastructure. If you look carefully at our small portfolio, there are some hidden gems that might suit you and allow you to opt out of the pressures of the rat race and enjoy an improved lifestyle with all of the long term benefits that will ensue for you and your family.

One of the properties on our web site that I think fits into this category is a farmhouse with seven acres in the deparment of South Vienne in the Poitou Charente Region. Currently operated as an Alpaca smallholding the property has an independent one storey barn that could be rented seperately, two en suite letting rooms (chambre d'hote) in the main farmhouse and a cottage business selling products made from the hypoallergenic alpaca wool.  

The  main house has two large main reception rooms and five bedrooms, the master bedroom being en-suite. The fifth bedroom is currently used as a study. The two bedrooms that have been designed for letting, are both fitted with en-suite shower and WC.

There is a further shower room and separate WC downstairs. A drying room off the kitchen diner has doors to the courtyard and paddocks. There are two 16.5kw Evergreen cast iron wood stoves installed in the lounge and kitchen diner supported by electric radiators throughout. The restoration works included new electrics, plumbing and septic tank drainage plus a new roof.

The barn annexe has undergone the same restoration programme as the main house. Accommodation consists of a large lounge with American style kitchen and glazed doors overlooking the paddocks. There is a large L shaped hall with study area which leads to the bathroom and double bedroom. The barn is heated with a modern Godin wood stove rated at 13.5kw. Septic tank drainage for the barn is recent and is separate from the main house allowing an opportunity for a purchaser to completely divide this part of the property from the main house or operate it as a stand-alone gite.

There is a courtyard and a barnyard separated by a substantial stone barn to the front of the barn annexe. The court yard area is surfaced in decorative stone with a central concrete plinth and views across the grounds.  A flat grassy area borders the courtyard with a gazebo, orchard and productive “potager”.

The barn between the two courtyard areas consists of a machine store and a larger leisure barn which offers numerous opportunities with power and lighting. The barn yard is level, private and walled to four sides. This would make an excellent area for a swimming pool (subject to planning permission) with the adjacent barn suitable for a pool room, shower rooms and covered outdoor social area.

The paddocks extend to 7 acres (2.8 hectares) and are fully fenced and gated. There are six recently built animal shelters designed for ease of maintenance, animal husbandry and cleaning with smooth level concrete bases.

The land borders a small river to the lower southern extremity providing a picturesque outlook. The current owners have substantially improved the property creating a high standard of personal accommodation. The chambre d’hote’s are ripe for tourist development to include catering along with the barn annexe as a comfortable gite or for long term rental.

The Alpacas are well known locally and it would be a relatively straightforward exercise to market the animals as a visitor centre as well as developing the manufacturing and marketing of the hypo allergenic products from the  alpaca wool. The development of the site for alternative herds, for example goats, or as an equestrian centre would also be possible. The whole is priced at 461,100 Euros for the property and land. Alpacas could be available by separate negotiation.

Something to think about today then. If you would like to learn more about this particular property you can download a brochure from HERE. 

Or visit our website www.frenchwatersideproperties4sale and see if anything else fires the imagination.

You only get one kick of the ball after all..............

www.frenchwatersideproperties4sale.com