Eight Great Houses For Sale In This Part Of Normandy

I know I’ve written about buying French Real Estate before, but I’ve been getting lots of questions about it lately, and I thought it would be fun to talk about it again. Mostly, people are curious about what kind of properties are out there, and what are prices like.

I spent some time this week on three of my favorite local real estate sites (Hexagone, Orpi, and Century 21), and selected 8 properties to share with you that stood out to me for one reason or another. Some are in town and very walkable. Some are in the countryside with lots of land. Some need tons of work. Some need none at all, or very little.

Remember: If you click through and check out the listings, be sure to use your imagination, because “staging” houses isn’t really a thing here. In fact, I’ve seen houses for sale with photos of unmade beds, and dishes in the kitchen sink. The nice thing about that is no one is trying to sneak anything past you — it’s all very transparent and feels honest and real. What you see is what you get. : )

A little house in the country. 35,000 euros. Look at that pretty brick work! This home has two bedrooms, and an attic space that would be cool to finish. It needs lots of updating, but the price is right. It’s near the community of Haras Du Pin, which (if I understand correctly) is the most prestigious place to train horses in France. We’ve toured the grounds of Haras Du Pin and they are gorgeous.

A beautiful stone house with a big garden and cool outbuildings. 77,000 euros. This one has high ceilings, traditional “tomette” floors, and huge fireplaces. Plus a barn and lots of options for expanding. It’s got a great price tag and it’s located near the village of Carrouges, which has one of our favorite castles (and it’s the home of Carrouges Cheese, which is so delicious!).

A full-on super fancy estate. 398,000 euros. This has a huge property, a pond, a grand staircase, and tons of gorgeous details. It’s on the pricier end for this area, but that’s because it’s a whole entire mansion, and it looks like it’s in good condition too.

Right in town and doesn’t need any work at all. 282,000 euros. This was one of the first houses we looked at. I still adore it. It’s on the prettiest (and oldest!) street in town. It’s beautifully redone and you can move right in. If you want to be in a town, you can’t beat this spot — the farmer’s market is right around the corner, and you can walk to anything you need.

A very rustic property in the countryside. 26,000 euros. This reminds me a lot of our cottage. It’s rustic with a capital R. But it’s a bargain and would be really cool project. Oh man this one could be so dang charming! It’s between the towns of Sées and Argentan. Sées has one of my very favorite brocantes (antique stores), and a really gorgeous cathedral with twin spires.

It’s a house PLUS a créperie! 87,000 euros. Want a house and a business? Well, here you go. It’s a really cool historic property directly across the street from the ancient Marguerite Tower. Right in town and walkable to everything. Just imagine how many nutella-banana crepes you’re going to make.

A big formal house with great bones. 151,000 euros. Hello fancy gated house! So nice to meet you. This home has lots of rooms, wood floors, and a pretty garden. Seems like a great price for such a big house.

An ancient manor from the 15th or 16th century. 349,800 euros. This is the house pictured at top and oh my it has so many interesting little corners and details. Grand bedrooms, stone walls, fancy tiles, high ceilings, and so many textures. Definitely go look at the photos just to see.

Now I’m curious, which types of houses shown here appeal to you most. Do you picture yourself in the countryside? Or would you want to be right in town? And how do you feel about taking on a project? Is that a deal breaker for you? Would you want something you could move right into instead?

26 thoughts on “Eight Great Houses For Sale In This Part Of Normandy”

  1. That last one is gorgeous! But I think my favorite is #4- the move-in ready one right in town. I love getting a glimpse of life in a small French town!

  2. Wow…so affordable compared to what people are paying in Bay Area. is it lower cost of living too?

  3. Gorgeous properties and I am loving your renovation! What did you do with the cottage you bought a few years ago?

  4. I loooooooved this post! I would move there in a heartbeat. My biggest worry is not knowing the language. I took Spanish for many, many years and still don’t feel like I have a great grasp of it. I also feel like my kids wouldn’t adjust nearly as well as yours. How are hard is it to navigate renovations there?

  5. So tempting! I wish I could buy the one with all the sculptures inside and out for my Mom. It’s totally her! A little courtyard garden! Perfect!

  6. I like the first little cottage. It is just the right size, but the character in the ancient manor is so appealing until I got to the bedrooms. I didn’t like the bedrooms, because they just felt too fancy and medieval to me! Our family lives overseas as we work as ex-pats. Having been away from the U.S. for a few years now, I can definitely see the appeal of finding an inexpensive place to live in the world that is not the U.S. Honestly, we talk often about finding a home somewhere else that we could retire. We are set to move to Armenia this summer and I think we are going to find it to be a hidden gem, as so many places in the world are!

  7. I love the ready-to-go one in town, but can I say, I’m so glad you went with the “fixer-upper” in town instead. What would we do without your daily videos right now!?!?

  8. It’s like you read my mind. Only yesterday I looked up your old post on French real estate listings. I think a lot of us are dreaming about escaping these days.

  9. I’m french and I can’t believe th price of the first house! i really thought you had forgotten a zero! ok, I might move to Normandy soon!

  10. in ten years, I’ll be retiring hand we hope to buy a house in town so we can walk everywhere and grow very old there, and then buy a small second house in the country, and that region of yours is on my top list!!

  11. That was so much fun! I had a full work day but managed to take the time to fully investigate all the houses you found for us! I would go for the “Right in Town and doesn’t need any work” which tells you everything you need to know about me. I am enjoying living vicariously through your home renovations though!

  12. These are all amazing properties!! This has been on our dream list forever, and I think you’ve inspired us to start to think more about it. Our kids have been in a French immersion school here in the US and this time all together at home has us thinking about bigger life dreams and goals. Thank you for the fun inspiriation!!

  13. I worked as an assistante d’anglais in a lycée in Rouen 20+ years ago and have never been the same since. Are there any governmental rules or loopholes that apply to foreigners buying property there?

  14. I love this post so much! I’m old house obsessed and these properties are amazing.
    How does buying a house in France work if you are an American citizen? Did you need to do anything to be allowed to stay there indefinitely? Or do they just let you move there?

  15. Mariana Delgado

    I definitely liked #4 renovated and in town… so much texture! But my favourite is #2 stone house with garden. Having a kid now makes me appreciate outdoor space even more! If money was no issue I would love to tackle a project, and be able to transform the spaces and also bring back some past glory. We are dreaming here, right?

  16. Gorgeous homes! Love all the houses listed on this blog post! Certainly the ‘beautiful stone house with a big garden and cool outbuildings’ is a contender along with the ‘ancient manor from the 15th or 16th century’ stand out the most but really any of these house will be just perfect!

  17. Wow! These properties are amazing! So tempted! Question- how do you buy property there? Can you get a US loan for foreign purchase? How does that work? Thanks again for sharing!

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