An entire French village, which caught global public attention after failing to find a buyer for the price of a one-bedroomed Paris flat, was on Monday finally auctioned off to a noted photographer.
The abandoned hamlet of Courbefy in central France consists of 19 buildings, a swimming pool, stables and a tennis court. It went on sale at a starting price of 330,000 euros and was sold to the South Korean photographer known as Ahea for 520,000 euros. Among the bidders attending the sale at the Tribunal de Grande Instance de Limoges were Belgian investors who wanted to use the village as a centre for disabled adults and representatives of a Dutch TV company thought to be Endemol, which had planned to use it for a reality show where contestants would do the place up.
A Lebanese lawyer had asked on behalf of his clients if it would be possible to have permission for a helipad, and was given the thumbs up. Courbefy failed to find any bidders when it first went up for auction earlier this year, but interest rocketed after it received international media attention.