PROPERTY SECTION
PROPERTY WITH A TWIST
Barge life
Location: Amsterdam, Paris or Avignon
Perfect for: Adventurous types who like the freedom of the open water
Price: £99,950
Those who dream of a free new lifestyle need not always look in far, exotic places; sometimes the answer lies much closer to home, in a property that brings with it a different way of life altogether. River barges are a great example. Cheap and relatively easy to maintain, they offer home comforts in surroundings of water, nature and boats – and if you don’t like the scenery you simply move on. Ideal for the free-spirited, they are also a great way for cash-strapped youngsters to get on to the property ladder.
Traditional narrow boats like this one (pictured) can be fitted out to a high standard of luxury and style, with a double bedroom, fitted kitchen, lounge and shower room, and such comforts as satellite television, internet connection and central heating. Some might find them a little cramped for fulltime living, but they do offer a romantic lifestyle and can provide excellent holiday rental revenue. www.livingonwater.nl See also www.seineplus.com, www.real-estate-in-france.com/peniche
Château chic
Location: Mariol, Auvergne, but also look in Gascony and Isle de France (around Paris)
Perfect for: Lovers of space, style and historical buildings
Price: £200,000
As good addresses go, you can’t do much better than a château, and for this kind of money it sounds very tempting to be able to say you live in a castle in France. Unlike buying a complete château in need of work, buying a luxury apartment in an already renovated building is an easy way of acquiring a holiday home with sophistication. Most people buy these as second homes, but they are also suited to year-round living, fitted with central heating and a range of kitchen and bathroom options. Combined with such modern luxuries are features such as antique stone fireplaces, solid wood panelling and high ceilings with beautifully worked cornices, not to mention a roof terrace, a park-like communal garden with swimming pool, a turret and the kind of gravel driveway usually restricted to James Bond’s vintage Aston Martin. An excellent holiday rental prospect and investment, for which medium-high maintenance costs are a small price to pay. www.auvergne-properties.com See also www.viviun.com, www.prestigeproperty.co.uk
City slicker
Location: 50 metres from the beach in Barcelona
Perfect for: City hipsters who want to be where it’s at
Price: £168,000
These studio apartments in Barcelona, designed by Machado Arquitectos, are just the thing for the young and hip, and the young at heart. They may be small, but they’re the last word in style, with sleek modern interiors and ingenious use of space to ensure you get the most out of your studio. Created with fun, functionality and space optimisation in mind, they make for a perfect beachside pad close to the heart of this buzzing city and just 50 metres from the Barceloneta beach.
The studios include a main living space with a galley kitchen, a sleeping pod with huge pull out-draws below and a separate shower room. One of the drawers converts into an additional bed. The sleeping space has sliding panels to separate it from the living area, as well sliding dividers. Sure, it’s a bit cramped, but it’s also cool, sophisticated and within walking distance of everything. Best enjoyed yourself but not a bad rental pad for visiting businesspeople or tourists. www.lucasfox.com
Conehomes
Location: Puglia, in southern Italy, especially in the Itria Valley and around Ostuni
Perfect for: Those in search of something different, authentic and affordable
Price: £110,000
A trullo is a distinctive cone-shaped country cottage typical of the Puglia region (in the heel of Italy’s boot). Surrounded by olive groves, vineyards and orchards, the beehive structures lend the landscape unique character. Traditionally built without mortar, yet solid thanks to the ingenious structure, trulli date back to ancient times. Here in Puglia, though, they were built until quite recently – thanks to the fact that buyers of these peculiar-shaped homes were exempt from paying property taxes.
No such advantage exists today, but rustic surroundings and their architectural charm make them popular. Among the buyers are British investors, who have discovered the pleasures of this region and are using them as rural getaways or rental properties. The Adriatic and Ionian seas are close by, but most buyers want these UNESCO-protected homes with a pool. Rural bliss indeed. www.trulliland.co.uk
Cave dweller
Location: Near Granada, Southern Spain
Perfect for: People on a tight budget in search of a country getaway
Price: £84,000
Before you go picturing Flintstone-like scenes, know that cave houses make for surprisingly practical – and popular – homes. These are located in the heart of the Andalusian countryside, in Galera, about half an hour east of Granada. Cut into the soft rock of the area, they are surprisingly comfortable and stylish, with smooth white plaster walls that maintain an even temperature all year. So there’s no need for heating or air-conditioning, making these properties both economic and eco-friendly.
Non-renovated caves are cheaper but basic, while better ones include spacious living and dining areas, tiled bathrooms, telephone connections, satellite TV and private front yards with terraces and parking. Some even have a pool.
With the ski slopes of the Sierra Nevada and beaches of the Costa Tropical two hours away, this kind of holiday/rental home will prove very popular with lovers of peace, nature and authentic Spain. www.spanish-inland-properties.com
Gone fishing
Location: County Cork
Perfect for: Those looking for a simpler life on a windswept coastline
Price: £395,000
If you’re tired of the stress and hassle of modern life, and can’t wait to get out of crowded cities, then the fisherman’s cottages sprawled along the mossy cliffs of County Cork might be the rustic getaway you need. Dirt cheap only a decade ago, they have since been ‘discovered’ by locals and foreign buyers, and many have been renovated, raising prices and bringing an eclectic mix of artists, celebs and stressed-out execs to these Atlantic shores.
You won’t find a strip of nightclubs anywhere nearby, although the expected construction of two new marinas in the area is helping to further stimulate price rises. If you’d like to follow the likes of Jeremy Irons and Graham Norton to this particularly rugged part of the Emerald Isle, you could find it to be highly rewarding. No longer a cheap option, these stone cottages will fetch a good holiday rental rate in a buoyant market. www.peninsula.ie
MY HOME AWAY
The mountains and sea are nearby, but it’s the friendly locals who make the Algarve village of Castro Marim for John and Pamela Clark
LONG before they began thinking of buying properties overseas, John and Pamela Clark had sampled different parts of Europe through holidays and business trips. Eastern Algarve took preference over Spain and France. “The region is ideally located, with mountains, sea and little towns nearby, but what really decided it for us is the friendliness of the Portuguese people,” says Pamela. In the past they had stayed in the central part of the Algarve, the heartland of the region’s tourism industry, but for a permanent residence they opted for the eastern Algarve, close to the Spanish border.
“We like it because it is quieter and less commercialised, although good roads mean you’re close to beaches, little towns, mountainous countryside. It’s also easy to hop into Spain and back, which makes for a nice change.” Instead of buying in a residential part of a tourist resort, the Clarks settled in the charming little village of Castro Marim, where a close-knit community has lived under the watchful gaze of a large fortress for centuries.
“The expat communities in resort areas can sometimes be rather insular,” admits Pamela, “and this is something we wanted to avoid, so we bought a modern town house right on the edge of the village. We love the village because it is typically Portuguese, and although we mix with other British and foreign people, much of our own social life is centred around the Portuguese way of life. We’ve made many local friends and feel part of the community. The villagers make you very welcome. It helps if you make an effort to integrate, but it is just in their nature to be open and welcoming.”
Once they had settled on the area, the Clarks contacted various agents until they found the right property. “When we saw the town house we knew it was the right property at the right time for us. The subsequent procedures were straightforward and the longstanding tradition of British property buyers in the Algarve makes it a quick and easy buying process. A lawyer checks the related paperwork for you, but as these are new homes it wasn’t a complicated task.”
Although they spend most of their time in the Algarve now, the couple have retained a house in northern England and travel between the two countries. “We have a West Highland Terrier who comes everywhere with us,” says Pamela, “and the whole experience is so much more convenient than it used to be, from road connections to the airport and frequency of flights to the fact that you can fly straight into a local airport at home.”
This kind of lifestyle played a part in their choice of house, too. “It would have been lovely to have bought a little freestanding house with land,” says John, “but the town house is far more practical. It’s spacious and comfortable but easy to maintain, and we don’t have to spend all our time looking after a large house and garden.” A keen golfer, John has the choice of three courses in his immediate surroundings, and several more within a short drive. “It really is a good mix of ingredients. We live surrounded by sea, countryside, golf courses and a quaint little village in an area with a lovely climate and friendly people. What more could you want?”
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