Beaumes-de-Venise and Caromb

These two communes lie between Avignon and Orange, a 40-minute drive from the nearest TGV station and 1 hour from the Marseille and Nîmes airports. The Dentelles de Montmirail are very popular among fans of hiking and climbing, while Mont-Ventoux offers a challenge to cyclists. Both Beaumes and Caromb are very pleasant places for stays or year-round living.

In the “département” of the Vaucluse, Beaumes-de-Venise is the second largest barony in the Comtat after Sérignan. Built as a duchy at the end of the 18th century, it now plays host to 2,270 inhabitants. No less than four “routes départementales” lead to the town, lying just below the Dentelles de Montmirail and boasting a pharmacy and several doctors. On the Wine Road, it makes its living from tourism and the production of olives and vines. It is well-known for its AOC Muscat de Beaumes-de-Venise, red Beaumes-de-Venise, but also white and rosé Côte-du-Rhône, red, white and rosé Côte-du-Ventoux. Home to 3,210 people, Caromb, a flat commune in the village part not far from Carpentras, Avignon and the Valley of the Rhône, rises to an altitude of 453 metres to the north, in the direction of Le Mont-Ventoux. Crossed by several streams including La Mède, it also mainly lives from tourism. The Mistral wind has a positive effect on the vineyards, giving a delectable AOC Ventoux. Long black figs should also be mentioned, a speciality of the area. Fans of fishing and family picnics appreciate the Lac du Paty.

“Half of the buyers are looking for year-round homes priced between 300,000 and 700,000 €, the other half holiday homes, peaking out at 900,000 €,” says Nabil Boucheraki of Côté Ventoux Immobilier. The first work in Carpentras, 10 mins. away, Orange or Avignon, 25 mins., and dream of a residence with a pool and a view of the Dentelles de Montmirail or Mont-Ventoux. Living space of 150 m2 in fenced and wooded grounds of 1,000 m2 with a pool costs 445,000 €. Buyers from the Lyon-Paris-Lille connection, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, Luxembourg and the UK are willing to live further out in the country as long as they benefit from an elevated position and a total absence of noise or eyesores. By way of example, a villa of 200 m2 in grounds of 4,000 m2 can be found for around 700,000 €. These fans of holidays in Provence love its traditional cuisine, good wines, walking and biking in the midst of nature, rural scenery and authentic architecture. Less exposed to the Mistral than the Valley of the Rhône, the region is very highly-prized.

“Beaumes and Caromb are very comparable markets, in terms of both quality and prices,” explains Christelle Marmey of Assurimmo84. The two villages are completely autonomous all year round. They benefit from a strategic position less than 30 mins. from large towns in the “département”. And despite the popularity recorded over the past five years, they manage to preserve a human scale and strong identites as communities. In rural areas, the environment is peaceful and offers a sense of real security. The region corresponds to an ideal life-style which is currently very fashionable. All sectors combined, the majority of transactions fall into the 300,000 to 650,000 € bracket. First-time buyers can still find village houses of 70 m2 without gardens, from as little as 80,000 €. As soon as they benefit from a generous terrace or courtyard, a very rare feature, they fetch over 150,000 €, regardless of their modest surface areas.

“For the past six months, we have witnessed a certain morosity. Yet deeds are being signed quite regularly,” comment Océane Caillé and Stéphane Dahan of Luberon Ventoux Immobilier, whose three agencies in Caromb, Beaumes and Mazan are committed to providing sound advice and proximity service. Examples include a village house of 100 m2 in mint condition, facing the valley of Le Barroux, acquired as a holiday home by a couple of Parisians for 350,000 €, and a recent villa of 158 m2 in Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols, in excellent condition, with grounds of 1,500 m2 and a pool, snapped up at 450,000 € by biking enthusiasts precisely on account of its closeness to Mont-Ventoux. If local properties occasionally attain spikes of 1 million euros, these records are exceptional in terms of both supply and demand. Sellers would really like to believe in a luxury segment, but reality shows a persistant gap between the prices asked and those actually paid. It in fact appears that clients are willing to spend less than 100,000 € on building land and up to 180,000 € or village houses. Notaries’ statistics show that, in the region around Carpentras, the average price for homes of 120 m2 in grounds of 2,000 m2 is around 270,000 €, whereas near Le Mont-Ventoux one can acquire a house of 105 m2 with a garden of 1,600 m2 for 216,000 €.