French Regional Information: Ardeche Secrets Revealed
Ardèche reveals its hidden secrets The arrival of the TGV and low-cost airlines has opened up one of the south’s smallest departments to today’s property seekers. Sally Ridd reveals its charms...
The Ardèche is a well-preserved secret with its proud châteaux, volcanic plateaux, soft valleys, gushing rivers and medieval villages moulded to the mountainsides. It is one of the smallest departments in the south of France nestled quietly between the Rhône-Alps and Provence-Alps regions. This unspoilt land with its hot summers and cold snowy winters has become more accessible with the new TGV station at Valence and Ryanair and Easyjet flying into Nîmes, Grenoble and Lyon. All airports are approximately 90 minutes by car and the TGV station at Valence is approximately 40 minutes’ drive to one of the principal towns, Privas.
It is becoming a popular destination offering some profitable property investment opportunities. Property prices in the Ardèche are just starting to rise as people discover its hidden secrets and the number of houses being sold as second homes has substantially increased over the last couple of years. There is also a vast array of properties ripe for renovation, many of which are sold to couples wishing to relocate to France and run a business such as chambres d’hôtes and building/property development. A stone-built house of 100m2 in need of complete renovation with panoramic views but no land can sell for as little as €50,000. At the other end of the market a recently renovated, five-bedroomed ardèchoise farmhouse with swimming
pool, terraces and grounds would be on the market for anything between €600,000-€800,000. The department capital Privas is an ancient town of narrow cobbled streets lined with tall stone buildings, steps and archways. It is famous for the sweet, delicate marron glace. Chestnuts are at the heart of traditional ardechoise cuisine and every year in October most villages hold chestnut festivals to celebrate its cultural and symbolic importance. A drive through the mountains with their splendid views brings you to Aubenas with its lively Saturday morning market, imposing château, ateliers, excellent restaurants and bars. We see a lot of British people who are looking for a holiday property, a retirement home or for somewhere to run a business.
Many came for a holiday and fell in love with the fabulous landscapes, the ever-changing scenery and the tranquil ambience. A renovated apartment in the middle of Aubenas (80m2) with a spacious living room, views and two-double bedrooms will cost around €100,000. Just a few kilometres out of town there’s an elegant country manor house with separate stone annexe for sale for €800,000. It has a fantastic location set in the hills with panoramic views of the spa town of Vals Les Bains. The extensive garden has terraces on different levels, elegant fountains, swimming pool, gardens and meadows. It retains many of its original features like the ornate stone-mullion leaded windows, stone fireplaces with coats of arms, heavy cherrywood doors and stone floors. Open fire-places date back to the 1700s.
The separate annexe has been restored and is used for guests. As the land drops away from the property there are meadows for horses and stabling. This property would make a luxurious, upmarket B&B. Leaving Aubenas, travelling south towards the gorges, you pass the Cévennes mountains and the many medieval villages sitting among the vineyards, olive groves and sweet-smelling lavender fields. Rivers, with their natural rock pools, and waterfalls, are perfect for summer swimming and sunbathing. Reaching the gorges the land becomes harsh and wild with some spectacular sights such as the famous Vallon Pont d’Arc at St Martin d’Ardèche, a spectacular natural arch standing 66m high. The mysterious Chauvet Grotto, where prehistoric man painted in shades of ochre and red on the walls, is now open to the public. There are also expeditions into caves and potholes that house a subterranean world of stalactites and strange rock formations.
There are many old stone houses for sale in this area but for those who prefer a low maintenance, new-build property there is a large villa with self-contained flat near Vallon Pont D’Arc designed by a local architect. It is surrounded by 2,800m² of gardens with swimming pool. All the bedrooms have balconies which look out on to the pool and terraces. The selfcontained flat has been completed to the same high standard and has two-bedrooms. The villa is a few minutes from the centre of the local town and near the amazing gorges of the Ardèche. This would make a nice retirement home (€350,000). North-west of Privas and Aubenas is the Monts d’Ardèche Regional Nature Park, a succession of rocky, fir-tree wrapped peaks and deep valleys covered with terraced chestnut groves, dotted with small hamlets with panoramic views.
The inhabitants of the Monts d’Ardèche are always ready to give visitors a warm welcome and are keen to share their love of the countryside, local products (charcuterie, goats cheese, chestnut breads), festivals and local crafts. In the heart of this beautiful area is a stone detached house in need of renovation for sale for €55,000, located in the lovely village of Chirols with its amazing views of the hills and the Ardèche river. The house has a stone terrace area at the front, the main room is 22m² and there’s a room the same size on the next floor. With loft space, vaulted wine cellars and an annexe this property would make a great holiday home.
Snaking through the mountains north of Privas you reach the volcanic plateau of the Coucouron region, famous for the epnoymous cheese. The countryside suddenly changes into a soft, friendly plateau littered with strange petrified knolls called ‘sucs’. The landscape is a subtle mixture of forests, rolling pastures scattered with goats, cattle and brightly coloured wild flowers in the spring. It is a fertile area rich with peach and cherry orchards. The rivers are home to fresh water trout that can be fished with a licence. In the middle of the region Lac Issarles is a volcanic crater full of water and surrounded by sandy beaches, perfect for sailing, surfing or swimming. A restored stone house in the character village of St Montan is for sale for €159,000. The renovation is to a high standard providing a spacious two-bedroomed property for retirement or second home.
Compagnie De L’Immobilier Tel: 01492 534588 www.compagnie-immobilier.com