You’re given a plot of land and have the financial resources to do what you please. What’s the plan?
I have the plot of land already picked out, it is in France, in the Southwest, in a town called Piraillan sandwiched on the headland of Cap Ferret between the Atlantic Ocean and the Basin d’Arcachon. My children and I found it ten years ago and it was perfect. I believe that the plot of land itself was an acre and it was located just down the street from the farmer’s market which is open every morning from 7:00 to 1:00 in the afternoon. The house is set in the back away from the street and there are different flowering bushes and trees in the front yard shielding the house away from prying eyes. The house itself was a fixer upper; I remember a central hallway with two bedrooms on one side of the house, I remember the kitchen was fairly large, but closed off from the dining room, I know that there was a wall that I wanted to knock down to make it easier to get to the dining room from the kitchen. There was a stone walkway that wrapped completely around the house and opening out into a large terrace where there was room for a very nice barbecue grill and a large table and chairs.
There was a garage that was very large and had a loft that could be renovated into a get away room. When we looked at the house it was about, when France still had their franc and at the time the exchange rate was 7 to 1 in our favor, 200,00.00; nowadays with the Euro, houses like that one are no longer a steal. If only that old lady hadn’t snatched the house right under my nose, we could have had a retirement home waiting for us in my favorite place in the world. What I did come away with from looking for real estate with the kids all those years ago, is that I know exactly what I am looking for when we are ready to buy our retirement house in France. That house was it for me or at the very least as big as I wanted to go, but if there was a smaller house in the same area, then I would be fine with it as well.
These pictures are to give you an idea of what my future house will look like; I think that you will see the potential as I did. The house that I had seen wasn’t open like the picture below, but when I knock down the walls, this is what I envision.
laurieanichols 