Esperaza
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

Environment ✧ river valley below Pyrenees, hillside vinyards, scrub woods and rocky outcrops

Services ✧ good; small town 25mins drive/bus

Access ✧ airport and mainline station 1h drive/bus/train, +1h Toulouse, +2h30 Barcelona (direct), +5h30 Paris or night

Area ✧ visited 30/01/2021; change of use with indicated planning approved 25/3/2021; too much work but still a reasonable candidiate with more backing though not aligned with Jacob's now smaller scale approach
✦ capital req €300k++ with fractional month shares circa €1.9k/pod €2.5k/standard €3.1k/plus; rents (non-coowner) €300–€750/month
✦ two unexciting warehouse/workshop/atelier buildings having large south facing windows onto a big courtyard, and potential for a good functional layout and some seperation between different spaces unlike properties of similar size
✦ an unremarkable but decent riverfront village (needs beautification!) in a locality with (prettier) typically French villages and castles all about, and offering varied attractions heading into the hills, plus down the lower valley and towards the plains
✦ the village hosts a well known weekly creative/hippie market with many foreign alternative folks living around; has a minimart, bakery, a few cafe/bars/restos; oh both a dinosaur museum and a hat museum (but regrettably not a museum of dinosaurs in hats) mountain bike trails and hikes on doorstep such as 1h30 to a picturesque hilltop restaurant; more adventurous closeby (possible by bus); nearby wild swimming and warm springs; cathar castles, great countryside, mystical woods, forests and gorges in around 30mins
✦ many activity centres offering kayak, rafting, canyoning, climbing etc
✦ there's several good villages close, and whilst the two notable towns are a trifle far at 1h, a smaller local town at 30mins is well known for is sparkling wine, and has a nice square; another in 45mins has an even more picture-postcard medieval square
✦ the 200m2 courtyard has a long frontage facing south on one side, and sheltered on the opposite by adjacent building (needs streetart/climbers); ideal for a winter firepit/summer bbq, plus a conservatory with hottub (convertable to table/workspace), and herb garden
✦ whilst there's no green garden, there is some open riverbank a short stroll away
✦ 500m2 of footprint, with height for mezzanines, however beams block traversal
✦ 8 pods with 3 bathrooms; 12 rooms all comprising mezzanine with skylights, small ground changing area and ensuite — 4 having a ground window and desk; 4 with larger mezzanine and desk plus larger ensuite
✦ casual workspace for up to 18 seats with mezzanine; hall/reception with some sofas and mezzanine above as focus workspace/library for 6 seats and armchairs
✦ the dining can seat 30 inside, more in the courtyard making events possible
✦ lounge with evening sun and outlook over open greenspace, backgardens with trees and hill in distance
✦ as there's several casual areas, the lounge could be used for events, as could the focus workspace for workshops
✦ all plus rooms have a desk with window for calls and working; whilst a callroom is also available but may not be suitable when courtyard is busy
✦ vanlifers would be welcome and whilst the village's free parkup with facilities by the river (5mins walk) is limited to 48h, there are other places to park that might be ok just on the other side of the railway, better to park in the countryside and pop-in for the day though ;) regular busses to Limoux (30mins), Carcassonne (1h) and Quillan (15mins)
✦ the building is alongside the railway, currently closed for restoration and slated reopening around 2026 (if ever) though carries few trains and they will probably be quiet hydrogen; Limoux would be 15mins and Carcassonne 45mins instead of the bus
✦ failrly good connections for DNs with a daily Barcelona train April-September, a seasonal flight to Porto, and 4 more cheapflight airports including for Morocco, plus there's a Lisbon Flixbus for the cheapskates/lowimpact; the Paris night train runs only some days (daily may be restored), all other cases require a change in Narbonne or Toulouse
✦ the heart of the mountains is a hefty drive at 1h30, same for the coast so not reasonable for a day out, however there is a lake close with boats and SUP but the rivers are much better, and there's closeby peaks of 1200m
✦ the climate is better than down in the valley because it's better sheltered from the winds that carry rain down there, thus there's a decent number of mild sunny days to take advantage of the outdoors even in winter; but hey with a hottub and firepit staying in would be fine too
✦ fibre due soon (2021); exchange is already fibre-enabled but 3km so too far; there's an excellent 4G signal to a mast with all operators
✦ piped gas is available however the cost of setting up a heating system to use it may not be worth it; nice for cooking at least
✦ conservatory would not be an expensive double-glazed one, would need ventable roof with shades for summer
✦ works could be done in stages, e.g. working backwards from the kitchen, with the smaller annexe last
✦ there's an existing sewer and water connection (in shed), though may need to be lowered as requires to be dug in to 1m for descent from far end (mainly across courtyard)
✦ the major works are: 110m2 of roof to replace (fibrocement) but this section can be deferred (4 rooms and pods); 12–14 skylights; 8–16 new lintels (most easy in block/brick, 3–4 in rubble masonry; 6 small/easy at roof level); blockup large opening in an interior wall; reframe exterior windows to smaller sizes; surface the interior floors; pave the courtyard; insultate and install ceilings (potentially not necessary for kitchen)
✦ sale would likely come down to 65k, but I'd only consider at 60k
✦ the roof beams have been strengthened albeit on the cheap, e.g. new sections bolted on increasing their size, and new timber columns mounted in front of the original support in the wall
✦ removal of the asbestos cement would probably be under 10k, and the new the same again (including labour and additional timbers)