Charente, France - A Place in the Sun

2025 / Charente, France, Craig Rowe on 13 March 2025

Charente, France, Craig Rowe

Karl and Sonia from North Yorkshire can’t wait to buy a new home in the Charente region of France, where they can also host their wedding. With a maximum budget of £180,000 Craig Rowe has five great properties to show them – but will any of them be perfect?

About the area

Charente-Maritime is a département in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region on the southwestern coast of France. Named after the river Charente, its prefecture is La Rochelle. As of 2019, it had a population of 651,358 with an area of 6,864 square kilometres. This search will be focused around the Bergerac area and going into the Perigord Pourpre with some Easterly properties verging into the Perigord Noir. The Pays de Bergerac is very well served thanks to the development of Bergerac-Dordogne-Périgord airport and the proximity of the A89 motorway which crosses the Périgord.

Property 1

4 Bedroom Cottage in Semoussac

This house has large well-established garden with plenty of seating areas and some spectacular views, there's also a barn attached to the house which could be converted into a workshop. Inside on the ground floor is a good sized lounge a separate kitchen, a second smaller living room a study and a bathroom. There are two double bedrooms downstairs and two more upstairs one of which is a particularly impressive size.

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Valued at £170,769 at the time of filming.

Property 2

3 Bedroom Detached Stone House in Chartuzac / Montendre

This property sits on two-thirds of an acre of land and there's a lovely pool. Inside is a much larger lounge than the first property, a kitchen diner, there's a utility room and a rather quirky staircase and landing which leads to three good sized bedrooms. There are two other smaller rooms currently used for sleeping and a shower room. To the back of the property are more rooms and there's a garage.

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Valued at £201,197 at the time of filming.

Property 3

5 Bedroom Stone House in Avy

The gardens here wrap around the entire property, there's a huge reception room perfect for entertaining and another lounge diner too. The kitchen is the biggest we've seen so far and upstairs are five bedrooms, one is being used for storage and there's a large shower room.

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Valued at £170,769 at the time of filming.

Property 4

Chateau in Saint-Martin de Julliers

The property sits on nearly an acre of land with stunning views. There’s a wide entrance hall, a renovated but unfinished kitchen diner and two bedrooms all ready to live in, as well as a stylish bathroom. The rest of the house needs a lot of imagination, there's a large basement and plenty more room still to renovate, some needing more work than others but all brimming with character the potential.

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Valued at £200,000 at the time of filming.

Property 5

4 Bedroom Farmhouse in Chef-Bouttonne

Inside is a great sized kitchen which leads into a lounge area with a second sitting room on the mezzanine level, plus there's a good size utility room and a shower room. The main bedroom is also on the ground floor and upstairs there are three good sized double bedrooms and a bathroom.

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Valued at £143,077 at the time of filming.

Hot Property

15th Century Stately Home in Saintes

This property has 7 bedrooms, 6 bathrooms, with living space of 954 square metres, plot of 2.7 hectares of land, off-road parking, indoor & outdoor pool, spa (with massage treatment rooms), 4 separate gites (with a further 9 bedrooms & 5 bathrooms).

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Valued at approximately £2,415,000 at the time of filming.