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

Environment ✧ gentle wooded hills on edge of rocky little river valleys; hikes on doorstep; beach 1h

Services ✧ good cornershop, burger joint, good resto, weekly market; village 20mins bike; all 30mins bike

Access ✧ bus from Nimes 1h +pickup, or 1h30 changing Ales: +3h Paris, 4h Barcelona

Area ✧ much more representative of a typical holliday home in a desireable area of the south of France
✦ very quiet large hamlet yet amazingly has a great little shop 2 doors down, plus 2 places to eat (one cheap one pricier), a weekly pizza van, and a now rarely found travelling cheesemonger/butcher van
✦ there's no public spaces, except two used for parking, but the village could probably be persuaded to have plants and benches added
✦ might work as a minihub for dropins, as is close to more than a few big villages and small towns, but would essentially be a large satellite given the nice variety around it
✦ minus is likely to be more affected by climate (hot, little rain)
✦ small local towns of St Hippolyte and Anduze both easily bikable or 10mins bus to St Hippolyte and 15mins Anduze however not great service with only early morning and midday towards Anduze; would reduce pickups and allows for morning markets and cafes from Hippolyte, or afternoons in Anduze
✦ several other small towns within 30mins
✦ the big town of Ales is 30mins drive, and lovely small city of Nimes 45mins thus not bad at all for day trips, even Montpellier at 1h; and for other interesting daytrips Uzes, the Pont du Gard also 1h, plus the beach but these would be more occasional
✦ both the little towns have regular busses from Nimes making pickups easier (10mins), otherwise 30mins train from Nimes to Ales then 40mins bus to door, but only a couple in the evening
✦ interesting village just 20mins bike with bakery and several resturants
✦ decent variety of activities mainly exploring and hikes with cafe stops, nothing especially notable, but some good river swimming spots and excellent biking
✦ there's greenway starting 10mins away, of 35km with tarmac (thus also great for roller-blading) between Summene, Ganges, St Hippolyte and Quissac
✦ kayking 30mins drive (Ganges)
✦ 10mins walk to horse riding

Property ✧ roof redone(!)
✦ probably mainly usable but quite old thus needs full refit; all windows too but would suffice in interim
✦ two adjoined buildings with 3 floors plus limited attic
✦ 1st floor has a long balcony with 4 doors
✦ small raised public walkway in front that could function as a long-thin 30m2 terrace with benches at least below the balcony and its creepers
✦ could remove part of a roof for a 20m2 terrace with views
✦ would easily accommodate 8, probably 10 ensuite mezzanine rooms on the 3rd opened to the attic, though half would probably be for pods thus leaving 4 with windows, 2 rooms on the 2nd floor at the back thus 7 rooms, and 6+ pods for an ideal size with over 240m2 of common space