The hamlet of Courbefy finally sold !
The hamlet of Courbefy, in the Haute-Vienne department (region of Limousin), has been put for sale for €520,000 (only £416,000). 40km from Limoges, the village has been auctioned on Monday 21st at the High Court of Limoges, after arousing hundreds of potential buyers worldwide.
An entire hamlet, named Courbefy located near la Coquille, has found a new buyer called Ahae, from Korean origin, who is a photographer. He bought this hamlet via his New-York based company Ahae Press incorporated.This artist shoulb be more famous next month as he will show his pictures during an exhibition at the Musee du louvre in Paris, from June 26th. But above all, this is the end of a long auction story that will undoubdetly alleviate the nearest inhabitants.
Bernard Guilhem, Mayor of Saint-Nicolas-Courbefy, cannot believe it. He is “delighted” by this piece of news. During the last three months, he has been spending his days consulting buyers around the world who came to visit the hamlet of Courbefy, 10 acres and twenty buildings, abandoned to their fate in recent years. “It’s wonderful what’s happening to us, he stresses, and completely unexpected”.
It was in 1970 that the last occupant, an elderly woman, left the village to settle in the nearby town of Saint-Nicolas-Courbefy. Different owners came and some have successively transformed the village into an entertainment center for young people, and then into a holiday village and hotel-restaurant. “The last owners were permitted to decay the case, Bernard Guilhem regrets. They borrowed a lot of money at the French Bank (Credit Agricole, currently the owner of the French village) to transform the resort hamlet, but were misused. The case was put on sale by the bank”.
Obviously, it was really heart-breaking for the inhabitants of the region to see their village transformed into a ghost town. Jean-Pierre Chateau, who lives nearby the hamlet, remembers “the old atmosphere and celebrations which were organized until the end of the 1960s”. The hamlet even had a prestigious past, on the evidence of the close chapel or the ruins of a c12 castle. At that time, the village would have even housed 2,000 inhabitants. Then, the community of the Monts de Chalus region has “carefully examined the possibility to buy it, but we must face up to the facts, our small district can’t afford such a renovation project.” deplored Bernard Guilhem.
A worldwide business
Thanks to the large promotion through the local, national and then international media, investors from all over the world were showing a great interest for the little village.
Before Ahae Press definitely put an end to this amazing story, four investors had stepped forward: The AHAE Press Inc. based in New York – which sent at the last minute a €33,000 deposit, an organization fighting against rare diseases, a mysterious investor from Hong Kong, and a Dutch TV channel.
The Dutch channel said it would like to set its future reality TV show in Courbefy, which aim would be to make the candidates rebuild the whole village. The mayor reacted with enthusiasm to the offer: “The village will be like new at the end of the TV show! We agree with the project” he said.
“More than 150 buyers have come forward since, Bernard Guilhem enthuses. I did visit the village to people from all over France and Belgium, but also emissaries of representatives of the Chinese, Taiwanese, Russians, Romanians, Algerians, Qatari investors … One even came in a private jet.
Whatever the project chosen, Guilhem Bernard is confident: “The arrival of new people will revive the village and generate employment; it is a chance for the local economy”.
Since the unsuccessful sale in Limoges court on 20th February, over one hundred potential buyers had come forward with the lawyer handling the sale on behalf of Credit Agricole, Maitre Gérardin. But now, it is too late…