shared live+work spaces
for people going places with purpose

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

#233 🏅74%  REJECT • €54k • typical • village • 380m² satellite • good location, easy potential if unlikely looking and fiddly
📍MapAdvert #1
Esperaza, southern France — near Limoux, Mirepoix, Carcassonne, Castelnaudry
☃️11–19°☀️4🌧12 • 🍂14–25°☀️6🌧12
GOOD  🔨 effort
GOOD  🚌 transport
GOOD  ✈️ access
GOOD  🛒 shops
OKAY  🏙 towns
GREAT  🧗 activities
DODGY  ☀️ climate
GOOD  ⛰️ nature
OKAY  🌷 garden
DODGY  🏠 building
OKAY  🏘 hood
Compare all properties

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

Services ✧ all; small town 25mins drive/bus

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

Notes ✧ partly usable without much effort but is missing a courtyard wall which would need glass doors
✦ on the lastest cadstral records has actually been split into two parcels for each building with teh courtyard split, thus if onyl one is being sold it's unsuitable and probably bad value even with the option
an unremarkable but fairly lively 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, several cafe/bars/restos; oh both a dinosaur museum and a hat museum (but regrettably not a museum of dinosaurs in hats)
✦ there's also a cultural association with an old warehouse around the corner used for various eactivities from dance classes to talks
✦ has tennis courts and and a rudimentary green
mountain bike trails and many easy and pleasant waymarked hikes on doorstep through vinyards and wood, such as 1h to a picturesque hilltop restaurant
✦ more adventurous routes closeby (and possible by bus); wild swimming and warm springs; cathar castles, great countryside, mystical woods, forests, gorges and a via ferrata 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 (will be 45mins by train), a smaller local town Limoux at 25mins (will be 15mins by train) is well known for is sparkling wine, and has a nice square; another in 50mins has an even more picture-postcard medieval square
✦ during the off season, Limoux runs carnival events every weekend for several months helps offset the slightly dreary climate
station around corner with all trips at €1; railway is slated for reopening around 2025 instead of the slow bus (1h–1h20 Carca), and also puts Quillan (an otherwise uniteresting village) at 5mins for better hiking/biking
✦ fairly good connections to Carcassonne 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; 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 in 35mins with boats and SUP but the rivers are much better, and there's close peaks of 1200m
✦ the climate is better than down in the valley because it's 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
Property ✧ actually not the original parcel having been divided in two, both for sale, the rear "for a supplement" however a combined cost of at least 85k does not make it particularly attractive
a dubiously inconveient format being long and narrow in two buildings behind each other
✦ some quite fiddly work with some not insignificant bits, though not on the main buildings; would result in an interesting layout and probably nice spaces
✦ arguably better option than the grand hotel opposite (70k, same potential size but larger 120m2 south courtyard)
✦ glass ground frontage onto road for coworking though this could probably do with being replaced with double-glazing; is only a local road into the village which is bypassed by the main road
✦ 20m2 1st floor terrace but onto the road, could become a conservatory which would buffer the road noise
✦ narrow (5m, reducing to 4.5 at rear) and long (39m!) in two parts with a small side annexe
✦ the narrowness is a distinct advantage for refitting as there are no load bearing walls
✦ the first footprint is 100m2 at ground onto the road and 75m2 on 1st and 2nd
✦ a 20m2 courtyard seperate from the next building with a partly overlapping 20m2 annexe onto the side alley, which if demolished would give 2m wide exit from the courtyard widening to 6m, but would be better as a rebuilt annexe with another 1st floor terrace of 25m2; there are other buildings that would probably become available
✦ the middle courtyard means there's no covered connection between buildings thus as an atrium with a 2.5 storey high glass roof it would be great, adjoining a terrace in place of the demolished annexe and thus gaining an imposing central side entrance without traversing the workspace; additionally the west wall could be lowered to a single storey giving more light to the rooms and atrium
✦ the rear building has a footprint around 65m2 with 2 floors the rear end opening onto another alley
✦ there's very little opportunity for normal rooms due to no windows and neighbours on most sides, however mezzanines with skylights would solve this very efficiently, perhaps using both the 1st and second floor, with a hall on the 1st, for 8 very generous units, however in reality more smaller units would probably fit in; indeed whilst the 2nd floor may not have direct access being used by mezzanines, it could probably have some rooms possibly accessed by ladders
✦ there would be no plus or premium units, however it would be possible for those preferring better accommodations to rent nearby and join the community
✦ a slightly more elaborate plan could replace the glass atrium with a 25m2 roof terrace, and the annexe would be built up to its existing 2 floors with additional roof terrace for washing lines; this would actually be simpler as is less demolition and glass work, but would require a two-floor stairway to reach the roof
the two covered spaces plus outside terrace would mean it's pretty decent in winter but an open fire would be desireable probably in the atrium and main lounge; in the summer the atrium would be vented and shaded, but should easily catch a cross breeze
ground floor:
  ✧ coworking (12 desks), partially divided through dining and onto the atrium
  ✧ kitchen fully open on opposite side of atrium with a bar and couch as a breakout area
  ✧ utility rooms and storage in the annexe
  ✧ rear would be 4 pods, opening up to the roof
✦ 1st floor:
  ✧ front terrace adjoining the lounge
  ✧ 4 mezzanine units and 1 or 2 small bedrooms up a ladder
  ✧ focus workspace (4 desks)
  ✧ 4 more mezzanine units
✦ roof terrace
Make a pledge … and vote
…towards ownership and use in any property you think is a good candidate! To discuss post on Facebook, or email jacob@hub.house; and if you're especially eager join our Whatsapp group (for coordinating visits, votes and share issues).