Rural living: the European countryside is calling

What is the ultimate luxury for property buyers today? For an increasing number of clients, says Alex Koch de Gooreynd, Partner in Knight Frank’s International Residential Property team, it’s a combination of space and nature, a calm antidote to frenetic modern life. For these clients, the understated luxury of a rural property in a familiar European country offers the true escapism they crave.

“We’re noticing a clear trend across Europe for buyers looking for property in areas of great natural beauty where they can be part of local life,” he confirms. “In Portugal, the rural Alentejo area, between Lisbon and the Algarve, fits that bill well. It’s Portugal’s largest region yet is still relatively undiscovered, where open countryside is punctuated with small villages and lakes, ideal for paddle boarding and water sports. It’s not a high glamour part of the country and that’s exactly why many buyers like it. It feels like a return to Portugal’s agricultural roots, still with the warm weather and sunshine that everyone loves but without the number of other people. I have a client from Singapore currently looking for a family home with a vineyard in the Alentejo. His criteria is to be within 90 minutes of Lisbon but with several hectares of land.”

Private 5.75 hectare estate for sale in Alentejo, Portugal. Guide price €2,950,000

Clients have been won over not only by the Alentejo’s off-radar beauty but also its good value with interesting opportunities at every price point. Koch de Gooreynd points to a client who has bought a ruin close to Evora, the capital of the Alentejo and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, for less than €500,000. Another client has invested in a substantial estate close to Setubal to create an equestrian centre, paying less than €5 million for a property with over 6 hectares of land that is just over 30 minutes from the centre of Lisbon.

“Properties in the Alentejo include traditional, low-level Portuguese farmhouses and elegant quintas, mansion houses often with wine estates,” says Koch de Gooreynd. “Some buyers of these larger homes look to provide a small income stream, setting up a B&B perhaps, while for others, there’s the appeal of having a family compound, several houses on one estate that work as a wonderful escape for extended family and friends. There’s also interest in off-grid living, owners keen to provide much or even all their own power and water through bore holes and solar panels.”

There may seem little left undiscovered in the long-admired inland regions of Provence and Tuscany but look closer and both offer opportunities to escape the more usual tourist paths. In Provence, Nicola Christinger, Associate in Knight Frank’s International Residential Property team, suggests heading away from the coast to the untamed Var region.

“The inland Var, equidistant from Nice and Marseille and focused on Lorgues and surrounding villages such as Salernes, Tourtour and Collobrières, remains authentic unspoiled Provence, offering breathtaking landscapes of rolling vineyards, ancient olive groves and forested hills,” she says. “It encapsulates the aspirational rural setting that many clients have, offering a great balance of seclusion and connectivity by air or TGV and is perfect for those looking for space, privacy and a slower pace of life.”

7 bedroom house for sale in Salernes, Var, Provence. Guide price €1,475,000

Property options include historic bastides, stone village houses, contemporary homes and countryside estates, many with large plots, swimming pools and superb views. The typical lifestyle is thoroughly Provencal too, centred on weekly markets, award-winning wineries and exceptional food: Château de Berne and Chez Bruno, both in or close to Lorgues, are two internationally renowned examples that Christinger recommends.

“Clients look for a place to switch off, to walk in the forest or cycle on roads with barely any traffic,’ says Christinger. “The Var provides all the beauty and safety of Provence, with proper Provencal countryside but with a wilder, off-radar side too. And as an additional bonus, the value is excellent. We currently have a ‘mini chateau’ in a beautiful hill-top village for €1.45 million which, in better known areas of Provence, would buy just a three-bedroom villa.”

In Tuscany, space, both internally and externally, has been a top priority for buyers for some time, says Andrew Blandford- Newson from Knight Frank’s International Residential Property team. “More and more since Covid times we’ve seen the importance of buying somewhere to spend extended periods with the family at the top of clients’ wish lists,” says Blandford-Newson. “While Italy is undoubtedly a popular choice for wealthy families enticed by the tax advantages it offers, it also offers the space and backdrop that families crave, with natural beauty, a solid infrastructure of airport, rail and road links and protected landscapes.”

Over the past year in particular, clients have found good value in Tuscany by looking south of the Chianti heartland to the Val d’Orcia, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of outstanding beauty. Think of a Tuscan landscape and you’ll probably envisage Val d’Orcia, an area marked by soft green hills, neat lines of cypress trees and world-famous vineyards. Notable locations are headed by the hill-town of Montalcino along with Montepulciano, Pienza and Castiglion d’Orcia.

“International buyers in Tuscany as a rule have focused their property search on Chianti and the hills around Lucca, predominantly because they are both within easy reach of Pisa airport and of the international schools in Florence,” says Blandford-Newson. “The Val d’Orcia is a little further south from Pisa airport but since the opening of a well-regarded international school in Siena, more people are looking there now, including significant numbers from the UK and the USA.”

For those willing to travel a further 45 minutes, the rewards, he says, are more space, beautiful views and good value. “Typically, €1 million would buy you a property of 150 square metres in Chianti compared with 200 square metres in Val d’Orcia. This dramatically beautiful part of Tuscany has become an extremely appealing rural prospect.”

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