10 of the best alpine properties

I'm often asked by our customers: if you had the money to invest, which property would you buy?

Well, here is a list of my current Top Ten alpine properties, with prices ranging from 85,000 euros up to 2.95 million.

Best balcony view:
Studio apartment, St Gervais, 85,000 euros
This attractive apartment has a large and sunny balcony with breathtaking views of St Gervais village, the Mont Blanc range and the Rochers de Fiz.

Best for rental potential:
2-bed apartment, Samoens, 189,000 euros
A real bargain! Benefiting from reduced notaires fees, this two bedroom apartment is in excellent condition. With a good lettings history in place, you can expect to make over 15,000 euros per annum in rental income.

Best for ski-in, ski-out:
2-bed apartment, Morzine, 190,000 euros
Right next to the Nyon cable car, offering direct access to the Morzine / Les Gets ski domain, this great value duplex apartment sleeps up to 6 people.

Best small business opportunity:
8-bed house, Samoens, 540,000 euros
Located close to Samoens, and on the ski-bus route, this property is split into 3 self-contained apartments. There is also potential to renovate another building on site.

Best large family home:
7-bed chalet, St Jean d'Aulps, 750,000 euros
Warm, welcoming and wonderful views! A great family home in the Portes du Soleil that could also be run as a small catered chalet operation.

Best investment opportunity:
12-bed house, Samoens 825,000 euros
This beautiful property (pictured) is only 400m from the Vercland ski lift in Samoens. Divided into 6 two-bed apartments, and with a separate small chalet on the grounds, there are numerous investment opportunities to be explored: seasonal rentals, development and re-sale, conversion back into a family home. Huge potential for the price tag.

Best penthouse apartment:
4-bed apartment, Morzine, 880,000 euros
200m from the Super Morzine lift and a similar distance from the Pleney pistes, this apartment will occupy the entire top floor of a new apartment residence. Completion scheduled for spring / summer 2011; it is still possible to add your own personal touch at this early stage.

Best luxury apartment:
4-bed apartment, St Martin de Belleville, 1.044m euros
This new build apartment offers approximately 120m2 of living space. The design is authentically alpine and there are high quality fixtures and fittings throughout. Only 300m from the ski lifts of the 3 Valleys ski domain.

Best for an extended family:
9-bed house, Annecy, 1.354m euros
A beautiful stone-built alpine farmhouse, renovated to a high standard and offering three separate living spaces: ideal for an extended family, or for running a chambre d'hote business close to Annecy. There is around 600m2 of living space and a swimming pool in the attractive gardens surrounding the property.

Best luxury chalet:
6-bed chalet, Megeve, 2.95m euros
The ultimate in luxury in that most upmarket of alpine ski resorts, Megeve. Recently renovated to an extremely high standard, this property is walking distance from the village centre.

Annecy Fete du Lac 2009

August events in the French Alps

July was a busy month for events in the Haute-Savoie, with various music and performing arts festivals and sporting events taking place to mark the start of the popular summer season. The calendar for August looks somewhat quieter, perhaps in line with the timings of the great French national exodus for the summer holidays; however don't be misled into thinking that nothing happens in the Alps in August!

August is one of the busiest times of year for the Haute-Savoie, with international and French tourists pouring into the region to enjoy some of the best sporting activities the world has to offer; whether it's extreme climbing or scaling the dizzying heights of Mont Blanc, taking to the air with paragliding, hang-gliding and hot air ballooning, braving the adrenalin-charged rough and tumble of mountain biking over craggy peaks, working your muscles with high altitude hiking and mountaineering or simply taking time to sit back, relax and laze on the beaches around the lakeside, taking in the fabulous views, enjoying the warm sunshine and letting others do all the hard work.

There are two major events in the region in August that are absolute must-sees for your diary. The first is the annual Fete du Lac in Annecy and the second is the strenuous Mont Blanc Ultra-Trail.

Fete du Lac, Annecy 8th August 2009

The Fete du Lac is an annual event in Annecy, a celebration of summer and one of the biggest and best pyrotechnical displays going. The event takes place above the lake, usually on the first Saturday of every August. However because of the dates of the Tour de France in 2009, the Fete du Lac was moved to this weekend, Saturday August 8th.

The annual Fete du Lac began in 1860, to celebrate Savoie becoming part of France. The town of Annecy decided to put on an unforgettable display for Emperor Napoleon III and Empress Eugenie and the tradition stuck. Today the Fete du Lac is one of Europe's largest and most breathtaking pyrotechnic displays, with music, water jets and the surrounding mountains echoing back the booms of the fireworks. This year's theme is the travels of Marco Polo and it is definitely worth getting a seat if you haven't already experienced the event. Be warned, thousands of people come to Annecy to enjoy the display and it is worth finding out more about tickets and where to view on the official Annecy website.

To view our property for sale in the Annecy area, please visit our Buy Property page. Alternatively contact us to let us know more about your search and how we can locate your ideal property in the French Alps.

July events in the French Alps

Why not combine a property viewing trip with a visit to one of the many cultural and sporting events taking place in the Alps this summer? Highlights for the month of July include:

Annecy International Triathlon (5 July)

Competitors from around the world swim across the crystal clear waters of Lake Annecy, cycle in the beautiful Bauges National Park and run from the Imperial Palace hotel to the Pont des Amours (Lovers Bridge) through the centre of the town.

Musilac (10-12 July)
This annual music festival takes place on Lac du Bourget, close to the spa town of Aix-les-Bains. Acts this year include the Prodigy, Duffy and Franz Ferdinand.

Bastille Day (14 July)

Expect fireworks and celebrations across the area, as towns and villages across France celebrate their Fete Nationale.

Noctibules Festival (15-18 July)

A programme of exciting street theatre, taking place at night in the squares and alleyways of Old Annecy.

Tour de France (22-23 July)

The world's most famous cycle race arrives in Haute-Savoie on 22nd July, with a mountain stage between Bourg-St-Maurice and the ever-challenging Col de la Colombiere in Le Grand Bornand (Aravis Mountains). On the 23rd the Tour moves to Annecy for a time trial around the lake.

Evian Masters (23-26 July)

Some of the best golfers on the women's circuit arrive in Evian for the annual Masters event, including world number 1 Lorena Ochua. The competition takes place on the Evian Masters Golf Course, overlooking Lake Geneva.

Ascendant offer property for sale across the French Alps; to make a viewing appointment please contact us.

Annecy 2018

Congratulations to Annecy on being selected as French candidate city for the Winter Olympics 2018, beating off competition from Nice, Grenoble and Pelvoux. See our earlier article for more information about this exciting bid. Next step: the International Olympic Committee makes its final venue decision in July 2011. Watch this space for more news!

Winter Olympics 2018

Here at Ascendant Property we're supporting Annecy's bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. France has already confirmed that it will be putting forward a candidate city for the 23rd edition of the games and on March 18th this year, the French Olympic Committee (CNOSF) will announce the name of that candidate. Annecy faces competing bids from the cities of Nice and Grenoble, plus a rather ambitious entry by the little village of Pelvoux in the Southern Alps, home to just 400 people!

The Annecy bid has a long and growing list of supporters from the sporting, political and commercial communities, all keen to see the Winter Olympics return to its birthplace in Haute-Savoie (Chamonix having hosted the inaugural event in 1924). Even its Swiss neighbour, Geneva, has firmly come out in support of the 2018 Games taking place in Annecy and Haute Savoie. Competition events would be spread out between Annecy and the nearby winter resorts of this area, the largest, most popular ski destination in the world. Many of the resorts are famous names in their own rights. Chamonix, of course, would play an integral part, hosting skiing and ice hockey events in the shadow of Mont Blanc. Morzine-Avoriaz in the Portes du Soleil would host many of the downhill skiing competitions; curling would take place in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains; Flaine would be home to snowboarding and the ski jumping and cross-country events would take place in La Clusaz. Annecy itself would host the ice skating and speed skating, plus the Olympic village.

The support for the Annecy Haute-Savoie bid is understandable. The area is exceptionally beautiful and has unrivalled infrastructure (good road and rail links and easy access from Geneva International Airport; modern, extensive winter sports facilities; quality accommodation, restaurants etc.). These are the very same reasons that people from around the world choose to buy property here. Good luck Annecy on the 18th March!

New Year New Site Design

Happy New Year from the Ascendant Property Team!

Just before Christmas we set up this new website layout, giving you better access to the wide range of French Alps Properties we have on offer and also to brighten up the look of the site!

We hope you enjoy, both the new look site and our new property blog.

This new property blog will feature news and views from the Ski and Alpine Property market from Ascendant Property, giving you the chance to see what we've been up to and the latest Property for sale in Chamonix, Annecy, Les Contamines, Morzine, Saint Gervais and Samoens.

Let us know what you think of our new blog and site design by contacting us today!