House in La Pierre St-Martin - Pyrénées-Atlantiques

House La Pierre St-Martin - La Pierre St-Martin

€950,000 €790,000 (HAI) - £658,702**

This splendid contemporary villa is in a delightful hillside setting, just minutes away from Salies-de-Béarn and its famous thermal spas - and not far from the pretty riverside towns of Navarrenx and Sauveterre-de-Béarn. Atlantic beach resorts are 45 minutes away to the west; Pyrenean ski resorts are 80 minutes away to the south.

The villa is perfect for a wonderful family home, a luxurious holiday home or a Bed & Breakfast business offering yoga retreats, courses, seminars... In addition, there are two gîtes (one unfinished) set away from the villa, which are ideal for renting out to holidaymakers.

Set in easy-to-maintain landscaped grounds (6,775m²), the villa also has a wonderful south-facing dining terrace, a heated saltwater swimming pool and panoramic views of the beautiful Béarnaise countryside and to the Pyrénées beyond.

The villa has been designed to be bioclimatic and environmentally friendly, with features such as solar panels, aerothermal heat pumps and a Puits Canadien.

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Built in 2015, this superb property comprises a contemporary villa of 305m², a two-bedroom gîte (35m²), a second gîte to finish (approx. 30m²) and a heated swimming pool. There is also a self-contained two-bedroom guest suite/apartment/B&B suite within the villa, along with bedrooms suitable for B&B guests - and even a large loft space for hosting yoga retreats, leisure courses, small seminars...

A private drive leads up to the villa and to a double garage (38m²), on the villa's lower-ground-floor. Also on this level is a storage room/walk-in pantry and stairs up to the ground floor of the villa.

There is an outdoor parking area in front of the garage - with steps leading up to the villa's front door - or there is a second parking area at ground-floor level behind the villa.

The front door opens into an entrance hall area with storage cupboards on both sides. To the right of the hall is a shower room with a WC, and an arrière-cuisine with a pantry and stairs down to the garage.

The entrance hall opens into a superb open-plan main room with a kitchen area, a dining area and a sitting area. The sitting area has a large wood-burning stove - and floor vents keep the room warm in the winter months and cool during the summer months - just one of several environmentally friendly features incorporated into the villa's bioclimatic design.

The room faces south and sliding picture windows the length of the room open onto a covered dining terrace with wonderful views of the surrounding hills and to the Pyrénées beyond.

Also on the ground floor are two B&B bedroom suites, as well as a self-contained guest suite/apartment. One of the B&B suites has a kitchenette, an en suite shower room and doors out to a small terrace; the other B&B suite has an en suite shower room and a door out to the parking area.

The guest suite/apartment is on the far side of the main room and comprises a sitting/dining/kitchen area with access to the south-facing terrace, a bedroom with access to the south-facing terrace, a second bedroom and a shower room with a WC.

From the main room, a wooden staircase leads up to the first floor, which has a sitting area, four bedrooms, a shower room and a WC. Please note that the ceilings in two of the bedrooms are sloping.

An open-plan loft space (43m²) above the first floor is ideal for using as a yoga studio, for hosting courses and seminars or for creating a children's bedroom, a playroom, a games room, a study/office...

Two independent gîtes have been built in the property's grounds. The two-storey West Gîte has a private terrace, an open-plan main room and a shower room with a WC on the ground floor; the first floor of the gîte has two bedrooms. The two-storey East Gîte needs finishing; it will also have two bedrooms.

The villa's south-facing grounds overlook a wonderful saltwater swimming pool with a sun terrace and a covered dining terrace. The pool is heated by its own heat pump.

The villa is located just minutes away from the riverside town of Salies-de-Béarn, which has excellent shops and local amenities. The town is famous for its healing thermal spas, so is very popular with visitors throughout the year, many of whom are looking for upmarket accommodation to stay in during their cures.

If you have children, there are schools for all ages locally, including a bilingual school (French/English) in nearby Orthez. There is also the International School of Béarn in Pau (40 minutes away), which follows the English National Curriculum and accepts children of all ages.


THE VILLA (305m²)

Lower-ground-floor:
- a double garage (38m²)
- a small storage room/walk-in pantry
- an interior staircase up to villa's ground-floor level

Ground floor:
- a south-facing terrace for outdoor dining
- an entrance hall area with storage cupboards (13m²)
- a huge main room with a wood-burning stove, a sitting area, a dining area and a kitchen area (52m²)
- an arrière-cuisine with a pantry and stairs down to the lower-ground-floor garage (8m²)
- a B&B bedroom with a kitchenette (21m²), an en suite shower room and access out to a small south-facing terrace
- a second B&B bedroom (15m²) with an en suite shower room and access out to a parking area
- access to a guest suite/apartment/B&B suite (see below)
- a shower room with a WC, accessible from the entrance hall

First floor:
- a sitting area (40m²)
- four bedrooms (15m², 15m², 11m², 9m²)
- a shower room
- a separate WC

Loft space:
- a large open-plan loft space (43m²) suitable for using as a yoga studio/seminar room/games room/playroom/children's bedroom...


THE GUEST SUITE/APARTMENT/THIRD B&B SUITE

- a sitting/dining/kitchen (23m²) area with access to a south-facing terrace
- a bedroom (8m²) with access to the south-facing terrace
- a second bedroom (14m²)
- a shower room with WC

NB: please note that some of the villa's rooms have sloping ceilings


THE WEST GÎTE (35m²)

Ground floor:
- a private dining terrace
- a main room with a sitting area, dining area and kitchen area (15m²)
- a shower room with a WC

First floor:
- two bedrooms
NB: please note that the first-floor rooms have sloping ceilings


THE EAST GÎTE (30m²)

Ground floor:
- an open-plan main room - needs finishing

First floor:
- an open-plan space already fitted with a kitchenette - needs finishing
NB: please note that the first floor has sloping ceilings


THE GROUNDS

The villa is set in landscaped grounds of 6,775m² (1.7 acres) with...
- a south-facing covered terrace next to the villa for outdoor dining
- a saltwater swimming pool (9m x 4m) with a sun terrace, a heavy-duty liner, a security alarm, a security cover and a heat pump for heating the pool
- a covered dining area alongside the pool


THE POTENTIAL!

In excellent condition, this splendid contemporary villa can be moved into straight away!

If you work in Bayonne or Pau, both cities are about 40 minutes away; Biarritz airport is 45 minutes away. For anyone who works from home or who need an office/consulting room, the property has several rooms which could be suitable. Should you need an office with a private entrance, the ground-floor guest suite or the two B&B bedrooms would be ideal.

With eight bedrooms and five bathrooms in the villa, the property is perfect for setting up a Bed and Breakfast business straight away, ensuring that you can generate a very healthy income as soon as you move in!

The West Gîte and the guest suite/apartment in the villa are also suitable for renting out to families for longer stays during the summer holidays, the skiing season and for Christmas and New Year. Alternatively, the whole villa could be rented out while you stay in the West Gîte (or the East Gîte when it is finished).

Salies-de-Béarn is famous for its thermal spas, which attract visitors all year round. Most of these visitors prefer to stay in upmarket accommodation, so are the perfect clients for villa's excellent B&B accommodation. It is entirely possible that you will be able to set up partnerships with the various thermal spas in the town offering all-inclusive spa treatments and accommodation deals. You could even offer luxurious extras, such as afternoon teas, luxury hampers, gourmet buffets…!

Both the loft space and the ground-floor main room are an ideal size for hosting activity holidays for your B&B clients and/or group bookings. Very popular activity breaks include yoga retreats, wellness and mindfulness breaks or masterclasses in painting, photography, music, gastronomy, Jurançon wine-tasting...

The loft space and the ground-floor main room could also be used for hosting corporate clients for seminars and conferences - and participants will be thrilled to enjoy relaxing meals in the peaceful grounds, along with the possibility of being able to stay the night before and after events...


SERVICES & TECHNICAL

Telephone & cable internet connection
Double glazing throughout
Reversible air-conditioning
Solar panels generating electricity with contract (the owners are entirely self-sufficient for electricity and currently sell back the surplus to EDF for about 700€/year)
Heating: aerothermal heat pumps + electric radiators + wood-burning stove + earth-to-air heat exchanger (Puits Canadien)
Mains water
Villa septic tank: meets regulations
Gîte septic tank: needs works


THE LOCAL AREA

Located in a rural hamlet on the outskirts of Salies-de-Béarn, this lovely villa is not far from Navarrenx, Sauveterre-de-Béarn and Orthez, which has a leisure lake with a beach. If you prefer the real thing, Atlantic beaches are about 45 minutes away. Both the nearest TGV train station (10 minutes) and the motorway (5 minutes) are easily accessible from the villa, should you need to commute to Pau, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Paris...

The Béarn is very popular with tourists all year round, many of whom come to fish or to go hiking, mountain climbing, mountain-biking, white-water rafting... During the winter months, the numerous ski resorts in the Pyrénées (80-90 minutes) offer downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowboarding and snow-shoeing... and during the summer months you can surf, swim and picnic in chic coastal resorts of Biarritz, St-Jean-de-Luz, Hendaye, Hossegor...

If your interests are gastronomic, Salies-de-Béarn has a twice-weekly farmers' market (Thursday and Saturday), where you can sample locally produced Jurançon wines, along with tasty Bayonne ham, which is cured using salt from Salies!

Airports: Biarritz, Pau, Tarbes-Lourdes
Train: Orthez, Puyoô
Coach: Pau, Bayonne
Ferry: Bilbao, Santander

Ski: Issarbe, La-Pierre-St-Martin, Val-d’Azun, Gourette, Candanchú (Spain)...
Beaches: Biarritz, St-Jean-de-Luz, Hendaye, Hossegor, Tarnos...

Attractions: Thermal Spas, Casino, Base de Loisirs d’Orthez-Biron, Aqua Béarn, Le Petit Train d’Artouste, Parc'Ours, Grottes d'Isturitz et d'Oxocelhaya, Grottes de Bétharram, Chemin-de-St-Jacques-de-Compostelle...
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Information about risks to which this property is exposed is available on the Géorisques website : https://www.georisques.gouv.fr