Le Breuil-en-Auge | €595,000 ($628,000)
A renovated thatched-roof cottage with views of the Vallée d’Auge
Made of mud and straw, the thatched roof atop this four-bedroom, one-bathroom cottage is designed to retain heat during winter and to cool the interiors in the summer. The sellers, a couple from the south of France, bought the 1970s house from a French architect who completed an extensive renovation in 2022.
The commune of Le Breuil-en-Auge is set in a lush section of Calvados, a department in the Normandy region of northwestern France. Its population of about 1,000 includes many second-home owners. La Spiriterie Française, Château du Breuil, a local distillery in a 400-year-old castle, draws tourists from around the world for its Calvados, or apple brandy, a signature regional product. Le Dauphin, a restaurant in the village, is known for its modern Norman cuisine. Supermarkets and a hospital are about six miles away in the town of Pont l’Évêque, the eponymous birthplace of the rich Norman cheese. Paris is 120 miles east on the A13 highway.
Size: 1,528 square feet
Price per square foot: $411
Indoors: The ground floor, with restored hardwood floors and painted ceiling beams, includes the living room, the dining area and the kitchen. The living room is anchored by a stone fireplace and chimney that were assembled in nearby Caen and installed during the renovation. A dark, unpainted wood beam accents the kitchen, which has blue cabinetry and hardwood countertops. A small garage was converted to a sitting room off the dining area; its original doors add an industrial touch.
All three bedrooms are on the second floor, along with the home’s sole bathroom. The primary bedroom features white beamed ceilings, painted wood floors and windows overlooking greenery on the side of the house. The bathroom has tiled floors, a stand-alone tub, double sinks and a glassed-in shower.
The renovation added new plumbing, electrical and heating systems. Furniture is available by separate negotiation.
Outdoor space: The house sits on one landscaped acre. A long patio with a colorful garden runs along the back of the house, where south-facing windows take in the landscapes of the Auge Valley. Neighbors include three ranches, and horses are a common sight in the distance. There is a small storage shed with a carport near the home’s entrance.
Costs: Annual property taxes are €900 ($950). Home buyers in France pay notary fees of 7.5 percent of the purchase price. The total cost of the home includes agency commissions.
Contact: Nathalie de Marez Dubuc, Engel & Völkers Paris, 011-33-6-08-09-14-54, engelvoelkers.com
Carcagny | €638,000 ($674,000)
Two houses conjoined by a modern glass addition to form a country manor
With a glass pavilion added 20 years ago, the owners of this stone house in the tiny village of Carcagny linked two adjacent houses to create a six-bedroom, three-bathroom mini-manor. The older building, dating to the early 20th century, has a stone facade; the other, several decades younger, is finished in lime plaster.
Carcagny is about five miles southeast of Bayeux, the first major town to be liberated by the Allies in the D-Day invasion, and a starting point for many visitors retracing the World War II landings in Normandy. Caen, another key D-Day site with a busy town center, is about 14 miles southeast of Carcagny. Caen’s train station offers direct routes to Paris, about 150 miles east. Ferries also operate from Caen to Portsmouth, England. Since Carcagny is solely residential, villagers travel to Caen or Bayeux for services, dining and shopping.
Size: 2,734 square feet
Price per square foot: $246
Indoors: The sellers used a covered terrace off the older structure as a main entrance. The entry hall features original stone walls and leads to a great room with dining and living spaces. The adjoining open kitchen has an island and a small wine cellar. A double-sided fireplace divides the kitchen and the living room. Original wood ceiling beams throughout have been restored; tiled floors are new. The glassed-in section of the property has polished concrete floors and includes a sitting area, a laundry area and a half bathroom.
The older part of the home has three levels. On the second floor are two bedrooms with cathedral ceilings, including a principal bedroom with en suite bathroom. A teak landing connects to two bedrooms in the newer section of the home. Those bedrooms share a bathroom. The third floor has another bedroom, and a sixth, larger bedroom is in the home’s attic, with an en suite bathroom bedecked in 1970s-style brown and yellow tiles.
Outdoor space: The 375-square-foot swimming pool is in front of the house, along with a 1,000-square-foot stone terrace. The 0.3-acre property also features a large vegetable garden and fruit trees. There are two small storage buildings behind the house.
Costs: Annual property taxes are €1,350 ($1,425).
Contact: Laurence Ardant, Mercure Forbes Global Properties, 011-33-6-62-18-73-65, groupe-mercure.fr
Villerville | €590,000 ($623,000)
A restored 19th-century fisherman’s cottage near Villerville Beach
Typical of older homes in coastal Normandy villages, this three-story fisherman’s cottage was built in the late 19th century and redesigned, in this case by the Deauville-based architect Laura Salamon Wagner in 2019. The home is on a quiet side street in the center of Villerville, a hamlet in the Calvados department that is a popular weekend and holiday spot for second-home owners in France. Built on a cliff with views of the Seine estuary, Villerville was the home of French artists including the painter Charles Mozin and the composer Gabriel Fauré.
Villerville Beach is a short walk from the home, as is Le Bistro Fleuri, a fish-and-chips joint popular with locals. Every autumn, fireworks on the beach commemorate the 1962 Jean Gabin film “Un Singe en Hiver,” which was shot in Villerville. Deauville, with its upscale hotels, casinos and horse racing, is five miles south. The stately seaside resort of Trouville-sur-Mer, with its rows of Belle Époque buildings, is three miles southwest. The Gare de Trouville train station, with direct links to Paris, is about four miles southwest.
Size: 1,076 square feet
Price per square foot: $579
Indoors: The front door opens to a living room with hardwood floors and a sleek wood-burning stove. A small dining area opens to the compact kitchen, which is brightened by a skylight. Built by the French custom workshop Atelier de St. Paul, the kitchen features marble countertops and tall gray cabinets that conceal smart appliances.
A restored hardwood staircase ascends to the second floor and two bedrooms. One has a sloped ceiling, painted floors and abstract nautical wallpaper; the other offers access to a small terrace through glass doors. A shared bathroom, clad in gray tiles, includes a glassed-in shower. The primary bedroom is one floor up, along with a large bathroom with sloped ceilings, marble floors, a stand-alone tub and a glass shower stall.
The home’s restoration included new electrical and plumbing systems, along with underfloor heating. It is being sold furnished.
Outdoor space: The second-story terrace is about 100 square feet; its glass floor doubles as the kitchen skylight.
Taxes: Annual property taxes total €826 ($870).
Contact: Sandra Sabah, Engel & Völkers Paris, 011-33-6-68-84-54-97, engelvoelkers.com
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