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January 17, 2014updated 11 Jan 2016 1:22pm

French super-chalets signal French Alpine market is peaking

By Spear's

Author: by Chloe Barrow

A nice chalet in the Alps, complete with sauna and hot tub, is generally perceived as an extravagance, but that’s a modest dwelling compared with what’s on offer across the Channel this winter.

In a recent article I discussed the super tutor, but this season’s latest craze is the super chalet, a beast of a building equipped with such features as a bar, an indoor garden and pool, a pistol and archery range and a climbing room. This is no ordinary winter bolthole; it’s the ultimate après ski entertainment centre. Shove an indoor piste in there and you needn’t step out the door.

super chalet

One such example is Chalet Husky (pictured above and top), a brand new €12 million seven-bedroom chalet, located in the Espace Killy mountain range, just 300 metres from the centre of Val d’Isere. This winter wonderland, designed by Jean-Charles Covarel, has all of the aforementioned features plus a gym, sauna, Hammam, Jacuzzi, wellness area and relaxation area – and, one of my favourite quirks, an iPad in every room to control light and heating.

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According to French property experts Athena Advisor, there are a number of these super chalets being developed following a trend for the ‘next level’ in luxury facilities to cater for the luxury rental market. And it makes a fruitful investment, as the property owner can earn up to €300,000 in rental over a season, as well as getting a possible 19.6% rebate on the purchase price if you use a management company.

Athena Advisor has observed a substantial 32 per cent increase in sales of ski chalets above €1 million over the last year. ‘At least three times the number of chalets have been built compared with recent years’, Nicholas Leach, a partner at Athena Advisors, said in a press release. ‘This is largely due to the pent up demand as a result of a large volume of buyers sitting on the fence for so long and now jumping off. This rush to the market has created a lot of demand for a limited supply.’

The boom in high-end French chalets is likely due to Francois Hollande’s proposal last summer to reduce capital gains tax on second homes in a bid to boost French property sales. With super chalets on the rise and fresh money pumped into its property industry, the French Alps could soon become as expensive as Switzerland.

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