Case Study · Still in the Running
Laurière: A £13k Stone House and Two Barns on Sound Ground
This is the brief in one listing — a proper stone house with a bread oven, an adjoining barn, a second barn and nearly half an acre, in the sound-ground Haute-Vienne, for €15,000 with the fees already inside the price. The catch is the condition: the roof's gone, the staircase has collapsed, and there's nothing connected. A serious rebuild on serious foundations. Here's the full workup.
Laurière, Haute-Vienne (87) · near Ambazac & Limoges · ≈ 650 km / 6½ hrs from Calais (Limoges airport near) · ≈ 620 km / 7.1 hrs from Bern
It reads like Thollet's shape — stone house, barns, land — but with the crucial difference: the ground here is sound. On the granite of the Haute-Vienne, the free checks come back clean. The trade-off is condition, not ground — so it earns the full workup.
📸 See the photos: view the full Laurière listing on Properstar → (opens in a new tab)
The free routine that confirmed this one's ground before a single mile.
Run the checklist →🔑 Haggling a Long-Empty WreckA roofless wreck with a collapsed staircase is the definition of a low-offer house.
Read the guide →🌿 Creuse & Haute-Vienne guideThe belt Laurière sits in — cheap stone on sound granite, and the drive.
Read the guide →The listing, in full
The agent (Les Clefs de Manon) offers a stone property complex to renovate entirely in a quiet hamlet, 6 minutes from Laurière village. On the ground floor: a room with a bread oven and an old sink, plus one more room. Upstairs: a room, but not accessible — the staircase has collapsed. There's an adjoining barn (scope to extend the house into it) and a second, non-adjoining barn in ruins, with 1,807 m² of adjoining and non-adjoining land. Technically: roof to be completely redone, sanitation to be created, water and electricity to be connected — a total renovation. €15,000 fees included (Ambazac 21 min, Limoges 41 min).
- Price€15,000 (≈ £12,800) — fees INCLUDED: €12,000 net to the seller + €3,000 agency (25%), already inside the price
- Rates (taxe foncière)Not stated — confirm with the agent
- LocationLaurière (87370), Haute-Vienne — near Ambazac; Limoges (with airport) ~40 min
- Drive from Calais≈ 650 km / ~6½ hrs
- Drive from Bern≈ 620 km / 7.1 hrs
- House50 m² stone, 2 floors — ground floor a room with bread oven + one room; upstairs a room (inaccessible, staircase collapsed)
- BarnsAdjoining barn (extend into it) + a second non-adjoining barn in ruins
- Land1,807 m² (adjoining + non-adjoining) + a 187 m² garden
- Build / materialsProper stone — a stone complex with a bread oven ✓, in the right granite belt
- RoofTo be completely redone — the big one
- Water / electricityTo be connected (nothing on)
- Drainage / sanitationTo be created (SPANC septic)
- Energy rating (DPE)Not required (exempt)
- AgentLes Clefs de Manon
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The good worth having
Proper stone, two barns, real land — on sound ground
This is the shape the whole site chases: a stone house with a bread oven, an adjoining barn to extend into, a second barn and 1,807 m² — and, unlike Thollet, it's on sound granite. Proper stone in the right belt is exactly what earns points here.
The price — fees already in it
€15,000 all-in (the 25% agency fee is inside the price, not on top) — about £12,800 for stone, barns and land on sound ground. For the shape and the ground, that's an exceptional number, and a roofless wreck is a house you offer low on.
The bad the condition
A total rebuild — roof gone, staircase collapsed
The catch isn't the ground, it's the work. The roof needs completely redoing (the single biggest cost), the staircase has collapsed so the first floor is a structural job, and water, electricity and sanitation all have to be created from nothing. This is a ground-up rebuild — budget and time to match, and only sensible if you're doing the graft yourself.
Small habitable, and radon to plan for
Only 50 m² is habitable (the barns are where the space comes from), and — granite country — radon is high, a ventilate-and-seal job to design in. Both manageable, both to budget.
The ground check
The routine that killed Thollet — Géorisques, run on the commune (INSEE 87083).
⚠️ 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.
Sound — the anti-Thollet
Clay comes back Faible (low), there are no drought-subsidence declarations, and no flood zone. The only flag is radon high (the granite), which is a design job, not a dealbreaker. This is the sound ground the whole search is for — the kind that lets a big renovation budget go on the build, not on fighting the earth.
DIY-er vs needs-a-builder the honest split
This one leans harder on the builder than most — because of the roof and the structure, not the ground.
If you're hands-on — what you can do yourself
Everything after the shell is sound: internal framing, insulation, floors, the barn conversion, second-fix plumbing, a kitchen and bathroom, the radon ventilation, and a wood burner. On a stone shell that's a huge amount of value added by your own hands.
Where you'll need a pro (or a builder)
• The roof — a full re-roof (frame + cover) is a couvreur/charpentier job: heavy, safety-critical, and the priority-one spend.
• The staircase / first floor — a collapsed stair means structural work before the upstairs is usable.
• The connections — a Consuel-signed electrical supply, a certified water connection and a SPANC-approved septic, all created from scratch.
What you'll need to clear it the van
More than a van — a proper clear-out
A stone complex with a collapsed staircase and a ruined second barn is real rubble. A T5-style van handles the household loads, but the masonry and the roof debris want a bigger van or a trailer and several trips — or a hired skip on site for the demolition phase.
Getting rid of the rubble — the local tip read this first
Nearest déchèterie: toward Bessines / Ambazac
Rural Haute-Vienne, so the nearest déchèterie is a short drive out (the Bessines / Ambazac side), run by the local intercommunalité. With a re-roof and a barn demolition, a hired skip on site is likely the sensible route for the heavy phase.
But — residents only, like the UK
A French déchèterie serves the local community's residents: you need a justificatif de domicile and often a badge. A UK- or Swiss-plated van with no French address won't get in, exactly as at a British tip. Until you've completed and have a local address, budget a private skip (benne) for the clear-out.
The score
Lifted by sound ground, proper stone and the exact house-plus-barns-plus-land shape at a rock-bottom price; held back only by the condition — a genuine ground-up rebuild. It sits in the upper third of the rankings, and it's the best-value shape on sound ground if you've the appetite for a big project — the total-wreck condition and all-to-create services are what keep it off the top.
The verdict
Still watching — a serious project on serious foundations. Proper stone, two barns and 1,807 m² on sound granite for €15,000 all-in is exactly what this site is looking for — the difference from Thollet is that here the ground is right. What you're taking on is the condition: a full re-roof, a collapsed staircase and every service to create. If you've the time and the appetite for a ground-up rebuild, this is one of the best-value shapes on the board. Next step is the exact address, eyes on that roof and structure, and a low offer built on the state of it.
How we judge every place
Same free routine, every time — it's what proves the ground is sound before you take on a rebuild this big.
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