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This week we revisit the question, what did it cost us to buy this stone house in the center of France?

Thanks again for watching,

Michael and April

Description of Us:
We are a couple of American Francophiles who have come to truly appreciate so many things about French culture. We love the food, wine, art, and history of France, but especially the people we have met along the way. Join us as we make our dream of living in France a reality. Follow us as we explore the French house-buying process – living, owning, and navigating a new life there with our beloved dog, Bernice. We enjoy learning about stone house renovation, wine, cooking, brocante shopping, and the French community we are now a part of.

This week we are answering a question that we get asked a lot what does $100,000 by you in the center of France Welcome to our Channel and our basically French Dream of owning a house we have a house that was constructed in 1789 it’s beautiful made of solid

Granite Stone and off a little lane um within a hamlet of about 14 other homes all built in the same time period and you can kind of look down the lane in this picture here and see the the end of it so we sit about 1.5 km from the actual little village

And we were just amazed at what this house that was listed for 82,000 came with so in France for $100,000 um you can expect a home this one’s three bedrooms one bath um the land across the street there next to the barn also was included in the purchase

Although we did not get the barn we have a garden of about a/4 acre across the street and a little Garden at the back so it looks like there are three stories the third story is an attic and um maybe in the future we’ll show you

What uh we’re going to do and the plans that we have for it um for now we’d like to just show you the inside of the house so everything that you’re looking at was included which is as we’ve been told by our wonderful neighbors very unusual and

So all the furniture everything you can see down here on this floor there’s um the original uh stone slab uh flooring and out the back you can see the wall at the back of the land all of that outdoor furniture was included this is how it

Looked the day that we took ownership so it needed some tender loing care and we got the grass CLI down you can see from the back this is what it looks like and lots of mature beautiful rose bushes and lilocks um and the trees in the back are

Lovely as well this there’s a single bathroom for the home um and you can see it here as you come back uh toward the kitchen you can see that we are going to have to kind of figure out flooring for here because it is a little bit uneven

So we have that on the calendar to do um all of the appliances came with the home which again is very unusual in France the beams are just spectacular and in marvelous shape um we do want to add some more cupboards and storage so we’re going to renovate the

Kitchen and just make it a little more livable we want to put a patio out of the back so that we can eat outside in the summer as we go up the stairs and you come up you can kind of see that the original Plank Floors are still there

They’re exposed in some places and there are rugs over them there are carpet in the bedrooms this is the smallest room up on the second floor um it is not technically a bedroom because it’s not 9 square m it’s just under which is good for us um this is the the back bedroom

That looks out the back side of the home uh over to that beautiful Valley View and this is the front side and this side of the bedroom looks across the street you can see our neighbor homes there and the cupboards these wardrobes the omo were absolutely full of all kinds of

Things so we did a lot of donating um but again most homes that you purchase in France will not have everything included one thing that did surprise us was the acre of woods these are um the woods across the field there in the shot our realtor is kind of showing us for

The first time we we made the offer Without Really knowing that this was included so we count ourselves incredibly lucky and it is just full of the most gorgeous and mature trees um we have already started to pull some of the um dead trees out it hasn’t been logged

In many many years and so we are going to take advantage and use the the dead trees and um have them for firewood we have renovated our fireplace already doing include a wood stove so the wood will come in very handy one thing that I’m really looking forward to this

Summer is using my metal detector and exploring the woods and the plot across the street I can’t see wait to see what history has left for Us so this is what $100,000 bought us in France for 82,000 list we got three bedrooms one bath fully furnished with about 1.6 acres some attached so much I can’t wait to share our journey with you and show you what we do as we continue to have

Adventures and I hope that you will follow along with us by liking and subscribing please put any questions that you might have in the chat and we would love to answer answer them thanks for watching

38 Comments

  1. I love that you get to live in a home that is still standing after all European history had to offer. What a lovely home. The dark beams and light walls remind me of British homes. Thank you for literally opening up your home and letting us imagine what it might be like for any of us at some point if we are ever as blessed. One question if I may. Do you speak French? Good blessings to you and yours.

  2. seems like sad backstory. your good fortune, some one else's necessity to suddenly leave. .maybe sage it before moving in. Best wishes.

  3. Cute!!

    The United States is so expensive! I live in Oklahoma, one of the cheapest states, and there is no way you would be able to buy something like that for $100,000.00.

  4. The loud guitar was unbearable. I’m sorry if that is rude . The house is beautiful and most of the furniture is too .

  5. I am a bit nit picky. The area right next to the barn and the street is probably about 90 sqm which is not even close to 0.0225 acre

  6. It's great but I wonder how did you get to move to France? Visa wise. I'm French but if I wanted to buy a house in the US, I could, but I wouldn't be allowed to live there…

  7. Having lived in Europe with lots of travel to France and Spain. I (and no doubt others) would move in a heartbeat, but the residency issue is the challenge. If you have an unknown remedy, please let us know. RH/Florida

  8. My friends recently bought a very large house in France and tell me that, in France, there is some sort of Land tax to pay yearly which can be very expensive. They also say that reselling is very difficult. What are your thoughts? Love your house ❤

  9. So you took ownership and turn around pimp it out a bit and sell it for a higher price to suckers… American greed. Just buy from an owner not a go between

  10. What a fabulous find. Will look forward to seeing how it comes along, but the place is already quite charming.

  11. Slow down when panning so your camera has time to focus and so we can see what you're trying to show us. 🙂

  12. Do not get rid of the flagstone flooring, a wonderful feature. Get it relaid if you want it level.
    Removing it would be a crime, and fundamentally change the character of the house…

  13. Hi April,
    Congratulations on your purchase. It's looks very homely & french.
    We've also bought a wonderfull stone house in a Normandy village (2 hours from Paris and 1 hour from ferry to UK). Our plan was to renovate it… and what a renovation it will make! The ideal renovation project… with a huge garden and space for pool, animals, etc.
    Unfortunately we'll HAVE to SELL it 😥because our family situation has changed due to ill health.
    I'd love to contact you about it, maybe you'd like to show it in a video? Why don't you include an email contact in your bio???

  14. Q: Do you speak fluent French? How difficult was it to find workers to do your renovations? Were they completed in a timely way?

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