49 Guesde
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project

Environment ✧ unadventurous but pleasant agricultural and wooded hilly river valleys; paths 10mins

Services ✧ bakery, pizza; supermarket 5mins walk; town 15mins (bus)

Access ✧ station 5mins walk, 3h15 Toulouse (+45mins airport, ++4h Barcelona), ~6h30 Paris, direct night train

Notes ✧ with station, supermarket, small lake and tennis all 5mins walk facilities are very good
✦ would function as a good minihub by bus, train and driving as there's a reasonable number of small villages around for which a once-a-week spot at a coworking would probably be appealing at under 30mins away; there are 2 coworkings in Decazeville but its debateable if either really are, one being in the town's incubator, the other only really having two shared 2–3 desk rooms
✦ climate is steady with regular showers and sun year round thus very green, low daytime average in winter but with nice orangery and the decent amount of sun it would still offer a pleasant enough retreat, with a good firepit and fireplace with comfy well let interiors, a sauna should be possible too; the roof terrace would accommodate yoga
✦ regular bus around area and to town making getting out super easy if not for anything especially worthy as the town doesn't even have a central square, but does at least have
✦ this location would be a mix of inward with nice spaces and convenience, with daytrips requiring a bigger commitment and engagement every week, and additional smaller adhoc weekly outings to villages, markets and for small hikes
✦ old mining area that also happens to have a thermal station, and even a slightly dubious casino…
✦ the village is getting a significant project that will replace the old school (previously for sale) with a development/renovation apparently offering senior and tourist accommodation alongside making the main square prettier by replacing the tarmac with paving
✦ access is not actually too bad, just long; multiple departures from Paris 6:30am and 12:30pm (arriving 7:00pm), 5:45pm (arriving midnight), plus the 10:45pm night train, thus making all connections through Paris workable without overnighting; from the south it's passable with Toulouse at ~3h30 (+45mins for the airport) and trains at 1pm or 6pm (arriving 9:30pm), thus essentially taking all day from Barcelona though its direct 3h service will be reintroduced (such arrivals could be coordinated with a evening out in Villefranche thus 1h45 from Toulouse last at 7pm +45mins drive; Rodez airport is 30mins drive or 1h by bus/taxi and train with only seasonal flights to London (and Dublin/Brussels); Brive airport is a bit far and awkward (3h train with a quick taxi, but long change) though has all year flights to Porto

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several weekly markets and supermarket 5mins walk, plus a few basic/hotel resturants for an escape from the house, but at 30mins walk there's two good, one with a great terrace at the fort, and of course a short bus or tain into the towns for much better variety
✦ for a quick stroll there's a pleasant little lake and the small village center park
✦ over 600ha of old mining lands including a massive open pit mine now having a lake, with (accacia) woods reaching to the upper edges of the village 10mins up a lane at the thermal station, and various circuits up to 2h, plus the town reachable in 1h30 with bus one way
✦ riding 15mins walk
✦ heated pool 20mins train at Capdenac
✦ easy outings 30mins train to the lovely little town of Figeac, with last back at 11:30pm for nights out which is unheard of in rural areas! but as this is more like 1h door to door (including the stroll at both ends), it's not quite so great for simply popping out, but is great for outings alone or in smaller groups, or the weekly saturday market and group dinners, nonetheless at 35mins drive, and 40mins for the equally nice Villefranche-de-Rouergue, driving the minivan may be a more common option
✦ several locations for kayaking, one 20mins drive, two by train at Capdendac and in Figeac itself with SUP but all seasonal though one association so arrangements may be possible
✦ under 30mins to ruins at Peyrusse (drive), tiny perched village of Capdenac hilltop medieval village and tower (train), Conques (drive), Belcastel medieval village and castle (drive), plus various other castles, abbeys, etc
✦ 50mins bus to medieval town of Villefranche from Aubin (30mins walk; last 8pm)
✦ 15 mins drive/train to the river Lot, 30 mins to the Cele river
✦ caving/canyoning/climbing around 30mins
✦ there's one neighbouring station that offers some slightly longer routes looping back for biking variety but not hiking
✦ better hiking is quite far at 50mins drive such as along the steep sides of the upper Lot valley
✦ several good day trips are possible at just over an hour
✦ Najac (drive, or 1h30–2h train/bus), combined with Villefranche and the river, or other sights on the way, and good for hikes
✦ Belcastel medieval village whilst not an outing itself, as a drop off can be combined with an all day hike to Villefranche along the small upper Aveyron valley, also possible as a half day bike starting by train in Rodez (pickup at the other end or long train)
✦ Saint-Cirq and the old river haulage route (drive) for nice walks with a stop in Villefranche or via some castles and the upper river cliffs, with hikes/biking in the wooded hills around it, kayaking, via ferrata and other activties in summer
✦ Rocamadour is 1h10 by direct train, again with the late return, but a long walk from the station thus better with shared taxi (5mins), yet can also be combined with a 3h hike or biking from the previous station along the valley
✦ town has a streetart festival which has now reached as far as buildings next door
✦ Capdenac will in future have a 64km greenway reaching to Cahors which is downhill all the way, however the return would be a bit much the same day and is 4h by train… which is essentially the same speed as riding it though a pickup could be arranged at a half way point

Property ✧ backs onto a length of unadorned public south facing green, with a small basement level garden onto a track seperating them; possibility to contribute a feature such as pergola and benches or even a theatre de verdure and BBQ pits
✦ the road the property fronts onto is no longer the main route through which has been deviated to the other side of the green past the supermarket, but regardless is not busy, nonetheless as the road side faces north it would be used for basic bedrooms
✦ roof covering has modern tiles and purlins but is sagging slightly in a couple of places (new partitions during fitout with supports could resolve this), some work required on it is mentioned
✦ if the beams are passable and other works would wait a bit I'd be strongly inclined to grab this as a good start to acquiring a bunch of cheap properties in diverse locations rather than a bigger project
✦ for a more presentable and only marginally more expensive option having similar size see #264 which has a big garden, is immediately usable though further from the station
✦ the front facade definately needs stripping and repointing in its natural stone as is cracked and very dreary, however some patching and a mural would be a quick solution, and the remainder on the east and south sides is okay and woudl be great for a mural being quite prominent
✦ beyond the green is a small new commercial zone that 5 empty plots and 3 taken (1 being the supermarket) thus some ugly buildings may appear but this is partly hidden behind a row of trees
✦ windows are small and on the south would need enlarging, at least with juliet doors
✦ 3 floors 125m2 plus at least 50m2 of basement down outside steps (apparently on 2 levels)
✦ top floor outside walls might be a bit low, and probably don't have enough height for mezzanines
✦ 13.5m wide (a bit more on the south side) but probably has a load bearing wall with the west side being only about 4m wide (garage side), 9.5 deep
✦ 165m2 basement level garden, but because of the green this is not actually really needed
✦ up next to the house could easily be turned into a tall 75m2 space with all glass front giving a roof terrace, plus an orangerie section; such a new extension would likely function as the public coworking
✦ parking is possible along the road above, thus through access would be needed from the ground floor, however there's a strip of land giving side access that could potentially be used, and a town plot on the track also suitable (for 3 cars; and gureilla gardeneing)
✦ the neighbouring property is still lived in if perhaps not for much longer, however the next 2 beyond it, one having east windows being on the end were both for sale for over 10 year, the entire row might thus be acquired