Contemporary villas in La Drôme
Yann Cohignac - 13 November 2014
Boasting a remarkable architectural heritage, La Drôme is now witnessing the development of a market for contemporary villas. Illustrations in Valence and Montélimar, the first and third largest towns in the département...
Manageress of the family-run agency Amouroux Immobilier, Anne-Marie Amouroux has been based since 1995 in Valence, a pleasant agglomeration with 65,000 residents, nestling at the heart of the Valley of the Rhône (1 hour from Lyon, Grenoble, Saint-Etienne and Orange). Covering La Drôme and L’Ardèche, she proposes apartments and houses of character, including the very highly-prized stone “bastide”. “Though my clientele, mainly comprised of young executives aged 30 to 45 looking for their main homes, is also drawn to contemporary villas.” As demonstrated by one of her latest sales : a house of 200 m2 at the heart of Valence, less than five years old, with a garden and pool, priced at 665,000 €. “For obvious practical reasons, “intramuros” properties are now the most widely sought after.” Another example : a recent villa of over 130 m2, also in Valence, with a garden of almost 800 m2 and a pool is up for sale at 385,000 €. “Our portfolio also contains a villa of 180 m2 designed by an architect in Bourg-lès-Valence, in 1,200 m2 of grounds with a pool, at 398,000 €, and another recent villa of 260 m2 in Peyrins in grounds of 5,000 m2 with a heated pool, at 488,000 €.”
Christine Navarro-Gougne, manageress of Provence Immobilier, and Martine Viricel, one of the agency’s negotiators, are based in Montélimar, a lively tourist town with 35,000 residents, benefiting from modern infrastructures (40 minutes from Valence, 1 hour from Avignon and 1 hour 30 from Lyon, Marseille, Grenoble and Montpellier). This agency founded in 1960, one of the oldest in the town, proposes all kinds of properties for all types of budgets, within a radius of 25 km, “to cater for the most varied clientele possible”, and in particular contemporary villas : “These high-quality properties corresponding to a new style of living are now highly sought after. In most cases, they are old properties which have been treated to tasteful interior renovation, proposing modern materials and equipment, original layout, generous volumes, light and airy rooms”. Some of them audaciously blend authenticity and modernity, as one 13th-C. stone house east of Montélimar, renovated in highly contemporary style. “Offering total living space of 140 m2, it sold for 328,000 €.” Otherwise, prices usually range from 300,000 to over 500,000 €. Still embryonic, this market suffers from relatively limited availabilities. “Though strong demand will ensure that it expands. Especially as developers are now also launching into the contemporary style.” A promising sign, bargaining is already much less insistent than in the case of old properties...