Case Study · Still in the Running
La Cellette (the 1875 Barn House)
A second find in the same commune as our top-rated house — which means the same soundest ground on the whole board: clay Faible, no subsidence history. This one is a smaller 1875 stone cottage, but it comes with the two things the brief loves — a barn and a garage — plus a convertible attic. It's small and priced right at the cap, so the ground is what earns it a page. Here's the full workup.
La Cellette, Creuse (23) · northern Creuse, near Boussac · ≈ 600 km / 6 hrs from Calais · ≈ 560 km / 6.4 hrs from Bern
This is the second house we've opened in La Cellette — the same commune as our top-rated find. That matters: it means the ground check below isn't a hopeful guess, it's the proven, soundest profile on the board. Where the two differ is the building: our number-two is cheaper with more land; this one is smaller and dearer, but it brings a barn and a garage.
📸 See the photos: view the full listing on Properstar → (opens in a new tab — there's an agent video tour too)
The free routine every place here is judged against — run it before you travel.
Run the checklist →🔑 Haggling a Long-Empty WreckPriced at the cap for a small house — how to build a low offer that sticks.
Read the guide →🔌 Going Off-GridA stove's already in — how far the barn and this plot could take you off the mains.
Read the guide →The listing, in full
The agent (Boussac Immobilier) describes an authentic stone house in a quiet hamlet, completely to renovate, that "will appeal to renovation enthusiasts." The house runs to two rooms over 37 m², built 1875, with a convertible attic to add living space. It's completed by beautiful outbuildings — a barn (pitched for a workshop, storage or a future extension) and a garage. It faces south-east with a countryside view, and has a wood stove. Land 450 m² (garden ~267 m²). DPE G. Price £34,727 — about €40,000.
- Price£34,727 (≈ €40,000) — right at our €40k cap; pricey for the size, so a low offer matters
- Agency feesNot specified — confirm who pays
- Rates (taxe foncière)Not stated — confirm with the agent
- LocationLa Cellette (23350), northern Creuse — near Boussac
- Drive from Calais≈ 600 km / ~6 hrs
- Drive from Bern≈ 560 km / 6.4 hrs
- House37 m², built 1875, two rooms + a convertible attic
- OutbuildingsA barn (workshop/store/extension) + a garage
- Land450 m² total (garden ~267 m²) — small
- Aspect / viewSouth-east facing, countryside view
- Build / materialsProper stone — 1875 stone house + a stone barn ✓
- HeatingWood stove in — a head start on the first warm room
- Water / electricity / drainageNot stated — assume all to create/redo on a full ruin (SPANC septic, Consuel electrics)
- Energy rating (DPE)G (882) — the worst band, a full energy retrofit
- ConditionComplete renovation — every trade, once
- AgentBoussac Immobilier (Amandine Dartois), Boussac
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The good worth having
The soundest ground on the board — proven
Because this shares a commune with our top pick, the free checks (below) come back on the best ground we've logged: clay Faible, no drought-subsidence history. On a stone house you're rebuilding, that's the single most valuable tick there is — and here it's already confirmed, not hoped for.
A barn and a garage
Small house, but it brings the outbuildings the brief wants: a barn for a workshop, dry store or a future extension, and a separate garage. Add the convertible attic and the real living potential is well beyond the 37 m² on the tin.
Stone, a stove, and a south-east view
Proper 1875 stone, a wood stove already in, and a south-east aspect with an open countryside view — good morning light and a head start on heat, in a quiet hamlet near the old market town of Boussac (whose château gave up the famous Lady and the Unicorn tapestries).
The bad what needs doing
Small, and priced at the cap
At 37 m² the house is a one-bed cottage, and €40,000 is a lot for that footprint — you're paying for the barn, the garage and the ground as much as the house. To live comfortably you're converting the attic and/or the barn, which is work and cost on top. The price is the lever: it's dear for the size, so build your offer on that.
A complete renovation, and a DPE G
"Completely to renovate" with a G rating means the lot: new wiring to Consuel, new plumbing, drainage to SPANC, the whole energy fabric (insulation, windows, heating), then floors, kitchen and bathroom. France's renovation grants can offset the energy parts with certified trades — but budget for every trade, once.
Small plot — confirm the services
The 450 m² is tight for a smallholding, and with no services stated, confirm what (if anything) is connected — water, electricity, drainage — before you fix a number.
DIY-er vs needs-a-builder the honest split
The usual rule: the fit-out is yours; the connections and anything structural or certified is where a pro is required — and the cost lands.
If you're hands-on — what you can do yourself
The strip-out; repointing and rendering the stone; internal walls, insulation, plasterboard and floors; joinery, windows and doors; second-fix plumbing; the kitchen and bathroom; converting the attic; and running the wood stove. Do the graft yourself and you stay close to materials cost — and on a house this size, with the stove in and the barn as a base, that's an achievable solo project.
Where you'll need a pro (or a builder)
• Electrics — a new installation must pass Consuel before Enedis will energise it.
• Drainage / sanitation — an off-mains system to SPANC approval, by an approved installer.
• Roof / structure — anything that's moved or opened up is a couvreur/charpentier or maçon job.
• The energy retrofit — to shift a G rating and claim the grants, the insulation and heating work wants certified (RGE) trades.
Clearing it out — the van, and the tip
A van and a few trips
A 37 m² strip-out is manageable: a T5-style van and a few runs covers most of it, with a hired skip for the heavy demolition if the attic or barn conversion gets structural.
The déchèterie is residents-only
Northern Creuse waste runs through the local intercommunalité, with the nearest déchèterie over toward Boussac. As at a British tip, you need a justificatif de domicile and often a badge — a UK- or Swiss-plated van with no French address won't get in. Until you've a local address, budget a private skip.
The ground check
Géorisques, run on the commune (INSEE 23041) — the same commune as our top pick.
⚠️ These ground figures (flood, subsidence, radon) are official records for the commune — real, but commune-wide, not proof for this exact plot. Check it yourself: official Géorisques risk report (ERRIAL) → — enter the property address.
Clay Faible — the low band, no subsidence
Shrink-swell clay comes back “Exposition faible” (low) — the sound-ground reading — and the commune has no drought-subsidence declarations at all, only the nationwide storms of 1999 and 1982. This is the ground you want under a rubble-stone house, and it's the reason both La Cellette houses rate.
⚠️ Plan for it: radon, moderate
Granite country means radon, here potential class 2 of 3 — moderate. At this level it's a ventilate-and-check job, not a red flag: an aired under-floor void, a sealed ground floor, and a cheap test kit once you're in. Pin the exact plot on the map for an address-level read.
The score
Carried almost entirely by the soundest ground on the board, plus proper stone, a barn, a garage and a stove; held back by the small footprint and a price that's high for 37 m². It sits upper-middle on the rankings — a notch below its bigger, cheaper commune-mate, but on the very same ground.
The verdict
Still watching — the ground is the whole case. A proper 1875 stone house with a barn, a garage, a convertible attic and a stove, on the best-checked ground of the entire search — that's a genuinely sound base. The catch is value: it's small at 37 m² and dear at €40,000, so the sums only work on a keen offer. If you want proven ground over sheer space and you'll put the graft into the attic and barn, it's a real contender; if you want more house or more land for the money, our other La Cellette is the stronger buy in the same village. Next step is the exact address, an address-level clay read, and a low offer built on the size, not the asking.
See how it stacks up
Two houses, same soundest ground — the league table shows exactly where each one lands.
See the full rankings →