Houses with river frontage

[Bugsy]

or those at sea level.

Would you buy one ?

.

[woolybanana]

Rivers flood, even when the locals tell you it never happens, so forget that.

Too close to the sea and you get the full blast of the storms which can range from flooding to damage to salt rotting.

That being said, a nice little place right on the coast in an isolated spot on the Med, if such places still exist, could be very nice.

[Frederick]

[quote user="Bugsy"]or those at sea level.

Would you buy one ?


.
[/quote]

 

Not unless I had checked out every flood map in the area .... or I might end up like this guy : http://www.couriermail.com.au/ Run the video "Surveying the carnage "

[cooperlola]

Locally,  "La Communauté de Communes des Rives de Sarthe" always sounds so romantic and I must say when I drive past and see the beautiful houses with little boats moored by the back steps, it does look smashing.  Then we get the sort of rainfall we had last year and they all suddenly have swimming pools instead of gardens and their furniture is seen drying on the lawn for weeks afterwards, and I'm not so sure!

I was born in a house on the top of a hill and the three houses we've had in our 37 years of property ownership have been similarly positioned.  I prefer a windy spot to a watery one!  The sea - you can keep.

[andyh4]

I have lived 100m from the sea.  You need accoustic as well as thermal double glazing - surprising how noisy water can be.

 

I have also hostelled regularly at a place next to a river - same issues, although the sleeping draught supplied by the pub next door was a great help [:D]

 

I suppose if you can get high enough above the water, flooding is less likely to be a problem.

http://www.ot-pont-en-royans.com/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1f/Pont_en_Royans_14A.jpg/250px-

 

[Gardengirl]

We were at Pont-en-Royans a few weeks ago, stayed at the hotel by the river, with the water museum. It's a lovely place, with houses overhanging ther river, attracting many visitors. The hotel was a bit odd, used to be a factory and still has a hostel feel about it; our shower was small and round and I was glad not to be any plumper! [:)]

The bit about staying next to a river reminded me of caravanning at Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland, next to the river; at night it was frightening to hear the rocks knocked about by the rushing water - it sounded as though the water was rising up to engulf the caravan.. When we first started visiting, there was no fence even.

[NickP]

We have a house with a river at the end of our garden, so long as you realise and understand the risks; and make sure you maintain emergency contingency plans there should be no problems.  We think the pleasure to us and our family of the close proximity of the river outweighs the negatives. The first question I asked when we considered buying the house was about insurance concerning flooding, the answer from the French advisor's was no problems and so it has turned out, unlike in parts of England where it is impossible to insure against flooding if you live on a flood plain. So the answer Bugsy is yes and we did. [:D]

[Hoddy]

I'm with NickP on this. I have spent most of my life living close to the Dove, the Derwent and the Trent. When I lived about 50 yards from the Derwent it was next door to an old cottage which was flooded every few years. My neighbours knew how to cope. For example, they had a set of breeze blocks which they lifted the chest freezer on to and a plan of action for everything else in the house which included rolling the carpets up off the quarry tiles and carrying them upstairs.

As they got older, other people from the non-flooded houses used to pitch in and help and there was rarely any real damage. It was a very old house though and I think the main problem lies with newer ones and with some very unusual water levels that have occurred lately.

Hoddy

[pachapapa]

I live by a weir and a water mill on the Thouet, the sound of the water does not bother us, but my goodness me when the sound stops we all prick up our ears and take notice. The silence results when the water level above and below the weir is the same.

[woolybanana]

Where are you on the Thouet, ppp?

[pachapapa]

Head east across Norman Bridge and up to the cross roads, on the left diagonally opposite the local pub. A metropolis of 12 houses.[:)]

In 1962 the flooding reached the middle of the cross roads.

[IMG]http://i282.photobucket.com/albums/kk244/pachapapa/Pachapapa%20Le%20Pont/Gourge003.jpg[/IMG]

[woolybanana]

name of village?

[woolybanana]

stragely, I think I do know where it might be, at least I fotographed it

 

[pachapapa]

[quote user="woolybanana"]name of village?[/quote]

http://www.gourge.a3w.fr/

[Quillan]

Well we live next to a river that borders our land on two sides. I guess the nearest we are to the river is about 50M and the river is used for White Water Rafting, Canyoning and Hydrospeed, all these activities pass our house. The last time the river flooded was back in the early 60's and a rough calculation would indicate that our garage would have been flooded (resulting in lose of electricity) but then the house was not built at that time. Our area, because of the river and the gorge, is considered a "World Heritage Site of Outstanding Natural Beauty" and with the use of several dams both up and down stream from us is protect from flooding. Whilst other towns further down stream have been allowed to flood and I have watched the water level rise by about four or five metres getting precariously close to the top of the river bank and entering the garden it never has. This happens every year when the snow melts (and we have some of the finest White Water sports at that time in France), The first year it happened we really paniced thinking the house would flood but it never did.

We like the sound of the water, very relaxing, it also means that if you sit down by the river for a beer and a chat you can't be over heard (sound normally travels further over water) plus it's so full of wildlife, you spend hours just watching. A great way to de-stress after a hard days work. I would love to have a boat on it, a little dingy perhaps but it's way too fast for that sort of thing.

[NickP]

Something I forgot to mention in my earlier post on this subject was, that if you buy a waterside property it's very possible you may find yourself with the responsibility to maintain the river banks. It's advisable to check with the relevant Environment agency. The funny thing is at the moment we are hoping for a "small" flood so we can drag our little boat out of the water,  it's leaking and needs attention.

[Chancer]

[quote user="Quillan"]

We like the sound of the water, very relaxing, it also means that if you sit down by the river for a beer and a chat you can't be over heard (sound normally travels further over water) plus it's so full of wildlife, you spend hours just watching. A great way to de-stress after a hard days work. I would love to have a boat on it, a little dingy perhaps but it's way too fast for that sort of thing.[/quote]

Les eaux tranquilles chambres d'hôtes.....................

Just as well there is not a trade descriptions act in France [:-))]

[Quillan]

Ah but you can close the window, walla, no noise.