LOCATION
with a lovely square and market building. The town hall is on its first floor, which is what they often did in those days. The pretty village of Tillac is
a castelnau de plaine – houses serried around the château and surrounded by a fortified wall. Montesquiou, another castelnau, is a staging post, with Miélan, on the Via Tolosana, the Arles Way (GR653 for hikers) to Santiago de Compostela. For Xavier, the plus points
GASCONY In the historic centre of Marciac – an ancient royal bastide (fortified town) – terraced stone houses, often with attic space for conversion, line the two main parallel streets. In the middle there is a central garden made up of strips of individual gardens, explains Xavier Mourrejeau of Mourrejeau Immobilier. There are terraced maisons de maître, with parquet flooring, high moulded ceilings, and gardens. They have a central corridor with two rooms off to the left and to the right and a central staircase leading to the same upstairs. “We have lots of maisons de maître that have retained their noble character,” Xavier says. If you’re expecting lots of
jazz-loving friends to come and stay, prices for a well-renovated example of around 200m2
will
be €350,000-€400,000. If you aren’t, you’ll pay €1,500/m2 for something smaller. Some properties have a garage but street parking is not a problem.
On the market From top: View of Marciac and the Pyrénées; Jazz sous les Pommiers, Coutances
To the south of Marciac there are housing estates within walking distance of town. Here you can buy large villas with 1,000m2
-4,000m2 gardens.
“You lose the cachet of the old, but you have some lovely houses,” says Xavier. For the investor and/or
dedicated renovator, he tells me you can buy buildings or large family homes with over 400m2
of living space. One such – on the square with
two ground-floor shops and accommodation above, with a small courtyard and no garden – could be yours for just over €450,000. At the other end of the scale, he recently sold a two-bedroom town-centre apartment for €80,000. There is a strong long-term let market. We have lots of historic
villages in the surrounding countryside, says Xavier. Have a look at the 13th-century bastide of Bassoues, or Miélan,
of living in Gers are the quality of life: “We eat well, we drink well.” They’re close to the Pyrénées – “within two hours, we’ve put on our skis and are skiing” – and also just two hours from the ocean. We’re happy in the country, he tells me, yet Auch, Tarbes and Aire- sur-Adour are only 40 minutes away. This is also rugby country – “there’s a rugby club every 15 kilometres”, he laughs. There’s a new multi-sport hall with a climbing wall, while the popular Astrada concert hall puts on shows year-round. It’s a dynamic little town centred on culture “and we have a population in Marciac that is much more open-spirited than in other villages,” he adds. So, cross the Channel
by ferry, fly into Nantes- Atlantique, or Tarbes-Lourdes/ Toulouse-Blagnac airports, and whether you’re sipping cider in Coutances, uncorking a gros plant du Pays Nantais, or warming your balloon glass of armagnac – just sit back and enjoy all that jazz. ■
tourisme-coutances.fr jazzsouslespommiers.com
marciac.fr jazzinmarciac.com
FIND MORE PROPERTIES ON
FRENCHENTREE.COM
€599,000,Marciac: This restored 18th-century Gascon home has eight bedrooms, gîte and dovecote, and stands in one hectare with a pond and orchard (Mourrejeau Immobilier)
€75,000, Bassoues: Set in a village near Bassoues, this three- bedroom dual-aspect property ready for renovation opens onto the square and has a small garden (Mourrejeau Immobilier)
48 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2024
€318,000,Marciac: This three- bedroom country house with garage, has a pool, well and fruit trees plus barn for renovation with views of the Pyrénées (Mourrejeau Immobilier)
€235,000,Marciac: Investment opportunity to create several independent spaces in this village house with new roof, 450m2
living
space, attic to convert and shop (Mourrejeau Immobilier)
© FRANCIS BELLAMY , PIERRE MEYER
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