It’s no secret Tom and I are looking to move out of our 1BR apartment into a home we can call our own. From beautiful, modern homes to cramped, dated places that feel dark and isolated, we’ve seen it all on our house hunt so far. While it’s fun to visualize a before and after in your head after seeing a fixer upper, sometimes you just want to find a place that needs minimal help and just move-in already! But this is too big of a step to rush, so the hunt continues and I’m sharing it with you. What are French homes like? What’s housing in France look like? There’s no typical French house across the board. They come in all shapes and sizes.
Check out some of my French house observations with pics. GO!
What are houses in France like
Some of you have asked to see pics of what houses look like in France and I have to start off by saying that they really vary just like they do in the U.S. There’s no single “French house” that’s typical of everywhere although there are some similar characteristics. Sizes of lots and actual living spaces vary depending on if you’re out in country or in a town’s center. For us, it’s important to be near civilization, so the spaces we’re looking at are NOT huge and sprawling. All of the differences I’ve noted actually get me excited about moving and I am looking forward to getting to know my new French house!
This is by no means a complete guide to housing in France, nor is there a typical French house style.
Below are a few general things I’ve noticed while house hunting and info on typical housing in France and home buying:
- Houses in France tend to NOT be made of wood (though it does exist) and instead have concrete or stone walls, especially old houses. So what do houses look like in France? Tile floors are popular and so is parquet and other floor coverings we’d use in the States.
- Roofs are slate, red terracotta, thatched or even stone depending on the area and property. My fave? Slate! Just the most attractive to me.
- Windows are vertical and open from top to bottom. Instead of unlocking a window horizontally and sliding it up, generally French windows open more like a door with two vertical parts and unlock with a handle.
- The roof pitch is generally steeper than traditional homes in the US making interesting angles out of the ceiling in the upper level (can’t walk standing up without hitting your head in the corners). There are homes with less steep pitches as well, but the older homes tend to be uniform in this characteristic. It’s actually — as the French would say — quite charming.
- Many apartments and houses in France don’t have a “real” kitchen with cabinets and a cohesive feel, and if they do have what I’m calling a “real” kitchen, it’s because the owners installed it themselves (houses aren’t built with these options in many cases). Many French people have a sink with some appliances that line up and create a kitchen of sorts, but no real storage overhead (like our situation now). Many French people bring their appliances, including fridge, washer/dryer and more with them when they move as well.
- Most houses in France have the toilet in a separate room from the shower or bath. Some of these toilet rooms don’t have sinks. Sometimes the toilet room is down the hall and not right next door! This isn’t the end of the world, but it’s strange to me to have to pee in one room, then touch the door and walk somewhere else to wash your hands. Or if you have house guests and are about to get in the shower when you realize you have to use the bathroom.
So do you walk out in a towel or just pee in the shower? Decisions.But I guess if that’s my biggest qualm about the bathroom, I should consider myself lucky.
- Many French apartments have the washer in the kitchen and usually not concealed, right next to the dishwasher or a cabinet. If it’s not in the kitchen (taking up valuable real estate), it’s in the bathroom (also taking up space). To paint a fair picture, houses are different and if a house has a basement, we’ve seen a bunch hidden away down there as well. I definitely don’t want a washer in my kitchen!
- If the home has a modern kitchen, the kitchen space (and appliances) seem to be smaller than the American ones I’m used to seeing — cabinets seem lower, islands seem smaller, counters seem narrower, etc. I like a lot of counter space and freezer space. You can absolutely find big fridges and install a kitchen any way you’d like, but in general, homes tend to NOT be built around the kitchen. Not ideal entertaining spaces. (Wait, who would I entertain? Ha.)
- Many houses in France are not move-in ready and require a bit of “refreshing” which is a euphemism for a total overhaul including windows, electricity, probably a new roof and of course the cosmetic things a new owner would want like paint color, etc. If your budget is higher, this probably isn’t a problem.
- You’ll have a lot of real estate agents. Many agents have exclusives which are only at their agency, and if you like that agent and want to work only with him or her, you’ll be severely limiting your choices. One agent cannot always show you properties listed by another agency. Split commissions don’t seem to be the norm here, so get ready to have a handful of agents all competing to show you the best home.
- It’s not the norm for a French person to pay for a home inspection before signing a sales contract. THIS IS A HUGE DIFFERENCE. There are several inspections required by law (termites, gas and energy consumption and others) but to my knowledge, none of them provide a comprehensive look at the property’s foundation, roof, plumbing and other items that most Americans would require an inspection for just to be sure. That’s not to say no one has their prospective property inspected — just that most do not do it and don’t see the need for it. Seems crazy to me to NOT inspect the biggest purchase of your life. Too much could go wrong and surprises aren’t usually good when it comes to things like this.
Here are just a few pics of the houses in France we’ve seen:
Here’s a dated kitchen. It’s functional with space and adequate cabinets but quite old:
Here’s a nice kitchen, but it’s in its own room (complete with a door) and doesn’t have much space:
A spacious family room that had a wall removed to create more of a flow between rooms:
A little deck and backyard space off the kitchen of one home we visited. While small, it was private and perfectly manicured:
Anything surprise you about houses in France? Maybe you can you relate to the housing in France I mention above?
What surprises me about houses in Gironde is that sometimes there are chains in front of the houses. They are attached to the roof and dangle in front of the house. I have no idea what purpose they serve. If you want to see an example, click on this link:
http://www.partenaire-europeen.fr/Annonces-Immobilieres/France/Aquitaine/Gironde/Vente-Maison-Villa-F6-SAINTE-EULALIE-813773
I can’t say that I have seen these chains in other parts of France. Have you noticed them where you live?
My washer is in the bathroom. Some people in my residence have their washer on their balcony.
I have a separate room for my kitchen. I actually wanted this and it goes against the current trend of Cuisine Américaine in France. I feel uncomfortable when my guests watch me cook and prepare food. I also like to keep the noise coming from the kitchen separate from the living room and vice versa.
I like the idea of a separate toilet and bathroom. I only wish that there was a separate sink in the water closet, just like in the old days. Nowadays modern water closets are built without the tiny sink fitted into the corner.
I really wish there had been more private offers. It seems that everyone goes through an agent here and its a pity because it seems like they did nothing for all the money we gave them.
Here in Bordeaux it’s normal to have a tiled bathroom, kitchen and living room with the bedrooms having the wooden parquet floor. Almost all of the roofs have red shingles.
Hi, that chains pic is weird! I feel like maybe I’ve seen that once or twice in France but never really noticed it as a recurring trend and definitely not where I live. Is it supposed to be decorative? And I agree about the agents. They don’t seem to do a lot of work and if you find the house yourself, talk to the owner and are interested, the agent gets money for more or less doing nothing! You live, you learn! Having fun doing so 😉
So I asked my husband about the chains (why didn’t I think to ask him before?) and he said that they are there to guide rainwater down from the roof. Apparently there is a gutter around the roof, which leads the water to the chain and the water glides down along the chain, whereas if there was no chain, the water would just fall down uncontrollably all around the roof.
Den – we had chains on our house in Japan, and they were at the corners of the roof. They were to guide the rainwater down. However, looks like the chains in your picture are anchored to the concrete — weird.
Buying a house can be fun! We had a major fixer-upper with only 55sq meters of livable space. But now we’re really pleased with it and the garden that comes with it. We just got a dog too – an epagneul breton. I’m going to poke around and see if I can find what kind you have.
Hi! I’m having a blast on our house hunt! Will be so, SO psyched once we find something. Would love to see pics of your project. Are pics on your blog? Dagny is a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, 1.5 years old now!
Came across your blog through Sara in Le Petit Village’s blog, which I love, so I came over to visit you. We can definitely relate to the house search. I have lots of French family but we live in Northern California and a few years back, we decided we wanted to buy a house in the South of France. We did tons of searching on line and visited many houses during visits to France. We had very specific criteria (old, stone, village house, not a fixer-upper, walking distance to boulangerie and cafe, relatively easy access to village once we arrive from the US, and had to have a nice kitchen). We looked at many houses but wife Shirley put her foot down if they were in hameau without shops or a fixer-upper, she didn’t want a Peter Mayle experience from Northern California. We found the perfect house but did make a quick decision once we did. Heard about it on Monday in Northern California, flew on Thursday, met the Agent Immobilier after lunch on Friday, looked at several other houses on Saturday, went back and saw the house again on Sunday, went to office and signed papers on Sunday afternoon and flew home on Monday. I strongly recommend you have your own Notaire and preferably one who will translate documents into English for you no matter how good your French is unless you are a native speaker. I talk about this on my blog. The only thing that is not perfect is our garage is tiny and the streets to get there are almost as tiny. If we make some modifications to the garage door, we will be able to get something like a Fiat 500 in the garage. Until then we park on the street nearby and have never had a problem. Have a good day.
Hi Michel! Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your house hunting experience! I’m glad you found the perfect place. It sounds beautiful! I love the old/stone look — so much character and has the typical French feel. About the notaire, my husband is French and actually works w/the notaires regularly in his line of work, so knows the ins and outs of contracts and what to look for. You’re still suggesting I get my own? Gonna go check out your blog. Thx again!
I have only been to France once and haven’t tried to find a home there, but I can tell you that most of the points you listed are also true for Swiss homes – with the exception and the bathroom bits. Kitchens are usually mostly furnished here, with all the cupboards, fridge, sink, stove, oven and dishwasher (when available) already there. In eat-in kitchens you will have to add you table and chairs and of course you’ll plug in your own small appliances, but the rest is there.
And the bathrooms tend to be full bathrooms here – sometimes an additional toilet is available, but luckily I haven’t had to choose between finishing my shower or dripping over the the separate toiler 🙂
Hi! Looks like a lot of these differences extend to other places in Europe as well, and it’s definitely a plus that Swiss homes have kitchens! That’s a biggie for me. Thank you for stopping by!
Hey, you should have a look at this site (I used it and it’s actually easy and fuss free, phew!!) about french property! Good luck! 🙂
I’m here for the pictures. It’s cool to look at homes in other countries and compare them to what we’re used to in America. Thanks for sharing. Love the living room.
I live in Costa Rica and the homes here are very similar in many ways to the ones you described in France. They are mostly built out of concrete, have small kitchens and washers are misplaced, sometimes even outside. Good luck with your house hunting, I look forward to reading about your final choice!
Cheers`Erin
We’re with you Diane – no washer in the kitchen. And the same for not having a home inspection — particularly with homes as old as they are here, and the fact that much of the work we see in houses is DIY.
We do have a friend/tradesman here who has agreed to check the electrical & plumbing of any house we decide to put an offer on. But like you, our notaire said they weren’t necessary. I guess not — if one likes big surprises and big repair bills 6 months after buying a house.
I’ve just adapted the attitude of “When in France, do like the French” for most things. I did pay about 350 euros to have a more in-depth inspection done that was offered by a company here and while it was more than the obligatory electricity/lead/energy checks, it still wasn’t as detailed as I would have liked. And despite this no lengthy inspection thing, all the houses around me are still standing so that’s a good sign ;-). Good luck!