Usine de raffinerie
property details
for a Hub House co-operative coliving project
#346 🥈85% €150k • historic • rural • 310–740m² satellite • unique mining buildings with hillside in lovely area
GOOD 🔨 effort
GOOD 🚌 transport
OKAY ✈️ access
OKAY 🛒 shops
OKAY 🏙 towns
GOOD 🧗 activities
GOOD ☀️ climate
GREAT ⛰️ nature
OKAY 🌷 garden
GOOD 🏠 building
GOOD ⛲️ hood
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Vernet, Catalogne nord — near Prades, (Perpignan)
☃️3–10–18°☀️8☁️10 • 🍂13–23°☀️7☁️10 ↥600m
☃️3–10–18°☀️8☁️10 • 🍂13–23°☀️7☁️10 ↥600m
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Environment ✧ forested mountains and rocky canyons; hikes from door; beach 1h
Services ✧ good bakery 20mins walk; supermarket 15mins bike
Access ✧ bus 20mins walk; station 5mins drive, Perpignan 1h25 transit (last 7:30pm); +Barcelona 1h30 / Paris 5h
Area ✧ on west flank of a low hillside in shallow narrow valley, loosing sun around 5pm
✦ quite elevated but nice amount of sun in winter and brief snow, indeed there's even palm trees
✦ I'm not keen on mountain locations, but this elevation is a nice compromise between rugged wilderness and a more livable environment; I've been here with some snow as a kid and it's quite pleasant plus brief, not to mention climate change since then…
✦ the environment is lush and full of lovely trees, and gushing water (at least in the spring, not sure about late summer…) and the air smells lovely
the hamlet is essentially dead except a bakery, next village up passable if missing life in its small public square where there's just one good French resto plus an Indian(!), cafe/bar and 2 weekly markets, is also a (very small) thermal station (with casino)
✦ local town of Prades is 20mins bus (last 8:45pm) with a good twice weekly market
✦ 15mins bike 10mins bus to fortified village with fort, better restos and station with the mountain train, and Perpignan in 45mins; the only big town in striking distance, is moderately lively, however too far for outings by transit (1h30) and whilst not unreasonable at ~1h with a 10min dropoff, the centre itself is another 15min walk
✦ good hikes including ravines and waterfalls (suitable for a dip) plus straight to the peak of the famous Canigou (2700m) in 8–10h overnighting in a refuge
good mix of biking some marked right from the door
✦ horse riding 15mins walk, tennis 15mins bike
✦ secret hot springs and suspended canyon hike 30mins drive
✦ the station is close by bike thus one can take the train up for more impressive trails / decscents
✦ flat sandy beaches within reach, also an inland etang for wind/kitesurfing; with just a bit more driving (1h15+) the rocky beaches around Collioure are possible for a day trip stopping along the way
✦ skiing 1h drive
train is super for Barcelona and good for changes to the UK and northern europe through Paris
✦ airport serves Agadir all year (nomad connections) though its Lisbon route was recently removed but may return for winters; London-Stansted seasonally; Barcelona provides the best interchange with train taking 1h30
property detail ↗︎
✦ quite elevated but nice amount of sun in winter and brief snow, indeed there's even palm trees
✦ I'm not keen on mountain locations, but this elevation is a nice compromise between rugged wilderness and a more livable environment; I've been here with some snow as a kid and it's quite pleasant plus brief, not to mention climate change since then…
✦ the environment is lush and full of lovely trees, and gushing water (at least in the spring, not sure about late summer…) and the air smells lovely
the hamlet is essentially dead except a bakery, next village up passable if missing life in its small public square where there's just one good French resto plus an Indian(!), cafe/bar and 2 weekly markets, is also a (very small) thermal station (with casino)
✦ local town of Prades is 20mins bus (last 8:45pm) with a good twice weekly market
✦ 15mins bike 10mins bus to fortified village with fort, better restos and station with the mountain train, and Perpignan in 45mins; the only big town in striking distance, is moderately lively, however too far for outings by transit (1h30) and whilst not unreasonable at ~1h with a 10min dropoff, the centre itself is another 15min walk
✦ good hikes including ravines and waterfalls (suitable for a dip) plus straight to the peak of the famous Canigou (2700m) in 8–10h overnighting in a refuge
good mix of biking some marked right from the door
✦ horse riding 15mins walk, tennis 15mins bike
✦ secret hot springs and suspended canyon hike 30mins drive
✦ the station is close by bike thus one can take the train up for more impressive trails / decscents
✦ flat sandy beaches within reach, also an inland etang for wind/kitesurfing; with just a bit more driving (1h15+) the rocky beaches around Collioure are possible for a day trip stopping along the way
✦ skiing 1h drive
train is super for Barcelona and good for changes to the UK and northern europe through Paris
✦ airport serves Agadir all year (nomad connections) though its Lisbon route was recently removed but may return for winters; London-Stansted seasonally; Barcelona provides the best interchange with train taking 1h30
property detail ↗︎
Property ✧ this is quite unusual, potentially combining a semi-eco/alternative approach with tinyhomes and the coliving, but it is nominally isolated thus could not be a third-space as such
is the partial ruins of an old iron smelter that served mines higher up the valley and closed in the 60s (search for Corneilla in this doc)
✦ composed of multiple terraces held back by tall stone retaining walls, that used to have rail tracks and included a hairpin tunnel for turning (probably not part of the property even if adjacent)
✦ direct view of Canigou
currently two houses, one 110m2 footprint on 2 floors
✦ another some distance away 50m2 footprint on 2 floors
✦ both fully usable in good condition with 9 bedrooms but basic (single glazing)
✦ even in this state with an orangerie and small extension it would make a lovely retreat, however at this price there's better if not as novel
✦ there was a further 100m2 house in 2019 but demolished recently for some reason (burned down?), though might be possible to reconstruct
has a (good condition) standing big brick chimney
✦ the uniqueness of this property would only be realised with conversion of the 170m2 remaining factory ruin, built in very solid stone with large arches — this would need to be adapted to be usable as housing, but not unduly difficult to add a 1st floor with windows, and roof over
✦ the land is now classified as natural but pragmatic revalorisation would probably be accepted (there's already a big old ruined hotel nearby) and given the existing works, doing something like removing part of the upper wall for windows should be no issue but would have to go through the town's planning authority not just the local mayor
✦ another 360m2 of ruins as a narrow length on the higher retaining wall, probably only originally for holding ore before smelting, albeit plausible for construction of tiny houses/cohousing albeit less likely allowable
✦ property has village sewerage and water
is the partial ruins of an old iron smelter that served mines higher up the valley and closed in the 60s (search for Corneilla in this doc)
✦ composed of multiple terraces held back by tall stone retaining walls, that used to have rail tracks and included a hairpin tunnel for turning (probably not part of the property even if adjacent)
✦ direct view of Canigou
currently two houses, one 110m2 footprint on 2 floors
✦ another some distance away 50m2 footprint on 2 floors
✦ both fully usable in good condition with 9 bedrooms but basic (single glazing)
✦ even in this state with an orangerie and small extension it would make a lovely retreat, however at this price there's better if not as novel
✦ there was a further 100m2 house in 2019 but demolished recently for some reason (burned down?), though might be possible to reconstruct
has a (good condition) standing big brick chimney
✦ the uniqueness of this property would only be realised with conversion of the 170m2 remaining factory ruin, built in very solid stone with large arches — this would need to be adapted to be usable as housing, but not unduly difficult to add a 1st floor with windows, and roof over
✦ the land is now classified as natural but pragmatic revalorisation would probably be accepted (there's already a big old ruined hotel nearby) and given the existing works, doing something like removing part of the upper wall for windows should be no issue but would have to go through the town's planning authority not just the local mayor
✦ another 360m2 of ruins as a narrow length on the higher retaining wall, probably only originally for holding ore before smelting, albeit plausible for construction of tiny houses/cohousing albeit less likely allowable
✦ property has village sewerage and water
Topographic mapCadastral map
towards ownership and use in any property
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