An abandoned French village for sale at £276,600
The hamlet of Courbefy, in the Haute-Vienne region (Limousin), is currently put up for sale for €330,000, with 10 days left to purchase it. The village has been deserted since 2008.
The French newspaper Le Parisien presented a surprising property ad this Tuesday. An entire hamlet, named Courbefy (Google map) located near la Coquille, is looking for a buyer. Located in the Haute-Vienne region, at 40km from Limoges, the deserted hamlet comprises 19 buildings and sports facilities including a tennis court, horseboxes, a swimming pool… for €330,000 (£276,600). No signs of buyers for the time being.
The hamlet was inhabited until the 1970s, but started to vacate under the influence of the rural-urban migration. It was then transformed into a sort of holiday resort, welcoming tourists and holiday camps. The last owners of the place were a couple from the Gers region (South West of France), but they didn’t succeed in developing their project into a hotel and restaurant complex. Today, the hamlet is abandoned and the surrounding vegetation is starting to take possession of the place, as well as thieves, party people and squatters, to the great displeasure of the region’s inhabitants who wish to revive the hamlet as it used to be.
Only 10 days left to get the hamlet
It is 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 good old atmosphere and the 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 12th century castle. At that time, the village would have even housed 2,000 inhabitants!
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, that would cost at least twice the price of the hamlet” deplored Bernard Guilhem, the mayor of Saint-Nicolas-Courbefy. The hamlet was put up for auction on Monday by the tribunal of Limoges, however no purchaser shown interest and there is only 10 days left before the auction ends. Then, the hamlet will definitely remain the property of the French bank Crédit Agricole.
Here is the Video: French village for sale (in French sorry).
New development:
Probably in favor of a real “buzz” media, a U.S. company-AHAE press Incorporated-has sent a cashier’s check for 33,000 euros, representing 10% of the amount of overbidding (ie 330,000 euros) to Maitre Emmanuel Lemasson in Limoges. Now a new auction should be strictly organized. Other buyers may still bid up to the date fixed for the new auction to be, according to Maitre Lemasson, on 21st May.
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. And presumably among them, some are likely to bid. By 21st May, a new advertisement for the sale of Courbefy will be made in the press (legal notices).
For those who wish to bid on this hamlet, here are the contact details of the lawyer in charge of the sale:
CABINET DE MAITRES EMMANUEL ET PATRICIA LEMASSON, LEMASSON-BERNARD
3, rue Jules-Guesde – 87000 LIMOGES
Tél. : 05 55 33 58 16
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