Contemporary houses in the Basque coast : the new icons
From Biarritz to Saint Jean-de-Luz via Hossegor and Anglet, houses offering contemporary architecture in the midst of nature and close to the ocean offer a backcloth for living that captures the spirit of the times. They win the approval of a prestigious and mainly international clientele keen on modern design.
On the one hand, there’s the undeniable charm, as spell-binding as ever, of old residences and châteaux shrouded in elegance, on the other, contemporary homes basking in light and characterized by lofty interiors. All along the Basque coast and as far as Les Landes, these houses offering modern architecture have elected domicile without any fanfares or ostentation, attracting a clientele fond of the codes of an art of living well-suited to its era. “About 15 years ago, we saw the appearance of contemporary houses which then gained ground within the region,” explains Benoit Verdet, director of the Emile Garcin agency. “The attitude towards old properties has changed. Before, prestige clients focused on large properties, very beautiful but hard to maintain. Today, life-styles have changed, demand is more about enjoyment, with buyers wanting to benefit from their free time and spend as little effort as possible on the up-keep of their residences. Contemporary houses offer this convenience, together with a very simple life-style. They are characterized by very spacious rooms flooded with light from lots of windows. The bedrooms often have their own bathrooms, and even walk-in closets, recalling the comfort of an hotel suite. They are built in grounds of small or medium size, but very well located, near the sea, and usually with a pool. The cost of construction of a contemporary home often requires substantial financial resources, and thus indicates a comfortable initial budget and well-heeled clients. The emergence of these contemporary houses meets genuine demand and addresses a public with a liking for modern culture, an international clientele, but also French buyers working in European capitals, in Asia or the USA.”
As very desirable building land is now rare, in fact extremely rare, some buyers with generous budgets are quite prepared to acquire an aging property benefiting from a magnificent location in order to build the home of their dreams. As explained by Serge Pilke, director of Terres & Océan Immobilier : “We recently sold a 1960’s house of 130 m2 to German clients, set in grounds of 2,000 m2 just 200 metres from the beach in a highly-prized area in Hossegor, for over 1 million euros. The house was razed to the ground and the owners have built a contemporary house of over 300 m2. There is high demand for contemporary homes, but as supply is rather scarce, demolition of an old property with outdated appointments and little appeal, but benefiting from a prime location, is a good compromise. On average, a contemporary property can’t be found under 850,000 €, and prices can soar to 2 million euros or more, depending on the quality of the location and construction. For more modest budgets, you can come across fine opportunities further back from the coast, such as a house of 130 m2 in Angresse, 10 minutes from the beaches, which we sold last month for 630,000 €”.
The market for contemporary homes is chalking up constant growth, though in the interest of coherent, well-controlled urbanism throughout the region, some towns leave more or less possibilities for modern properties. Philippe Thomine Desmazures, director and partner of the Barnes agency explains : “Some towns like Biarritz, Anglet, Hossegor, Seignosse and Capbreton are characterized by wide architectural diversity. Others such as Bidart, Guéthary or Arcangues offer a more limited choice and a pronounced Basque identity which excludes contemporary styles of architecture. In these towns, colour codes imposed by the Basque style have to be observed and architecture must obey certain rules : you can’t build a cubic house with a roof-top terrace ! The colour of the shutters is regulated, the shape of the windows too. In coastal areas, the surface area of a house must be in a certain proportion to the size of the grounds, depending on building restrictions, which can vary from one commune to another, but also from one street to the next. An equation which could be summed up as : a large house equals large grounds. In other towns, urban planning policies may be more permissive, as in the case of Anglet and Hossegor. In the Chiberta neighbourhood in Anglet, we recently sold a contemporary house of 400 m2 in cubic shape, set in grounds of 1,500 m2 with a pool, priced at 3.8 million euros. Offering very refined appointments, this house contains a full array of contemporary features : concrete construction, huge picture windows, very high ceilings, swimming pool…, and belongs to the category of exceptional properties”.
