You can have all the charm and character of the Dordogne at a fraction of the cost. Head to Limousin for unspoilt landscapes, pretty villages and attractive, affordable properties, says Nicola Venning
If you were looking for a place that combined the prettiness of Devon with the emptiness of the Highlands, you would find it in Limousin.
The region, which is made up of the Haute-Vienne, Creuse and Corrèze departments, is totally unspoilt and, despite its chocolate-box charm, it’s one of the least-populated areas of southwest France.
In between rolling hills dotted with long-haired brown cattle, fish-filled lakes and gentle valleys, you can find characterful pale-stone villages, often with a mairie, boulangerie and the sort of café or restaurant that invites lingering. Roomy age-old farmhouses share apple orchards with cute stone cottages or elegant maisons de maître, often finished with dark-red shutters and burgundy painted doors.
A second home big enough for a family, but manageable, can be picked up for between €180,000 and €250,000, and often for less in remote areas. This will buy you a characterful, three-bedroom, two-bathroom stone cottage in the middle of the countryside, with outbuildings and a large garden – all within an hour of Limoges airport.
GARDEN AS STANDARD
Francophiles moving to the area permanently often prefer something larger with more land. For €250,000– €300,000 you can find period fourbedroom, three/four-bathroom farmhouses in a hamlet or village. Outbuildings, such as a barn and possibly a gîte, as well as a large mature garden, come as standard.
The main reason for Limousin’s eye-widening affordability is that it is situated within the diagonale du vide, or ‘empty diagonal’, an area of sparsely populated countryside (a result of the post-industrial rural exodus), which stretches, roughly, through central France. Corrèze in the south is the priciest of the three departments, while Creuse to the east and Haute-Vienne are slightly less expensive and a little more populated.
“It is very similar in climate and landscape to the Dordogne, but cheaper – in general, going across the border from HauteVienne into Dordogne increases prices by 10%; more as you go further south,” says Kevin Andrews of Leggett Immobilier. By th
