A prestige forest estate for sale combines a residence of character with a large wooded massif: a chateau at the heart of its forest, a master house with its woods and lakes, a hunting lodge on several hundred hectares, a Sologne manor surrounded by high forest. This page gathers these properties within the luxury property category of ma-propriete.fr. Forests sold on their own, parcels and massifs of every size, belong to our forestry property category.
Here you will find price benchmarks for the residence and the forest, what characterises these estates, the checks to carry out before buying a massif and an old residence, and answers to buyers' usual questions. Our guide to buying luxury property in France covers the whole process.
Two markets set the price of such an estate: that of large rural residences for the buildings, that of forestry for the woods. Our observatory measures them separately from the transactions in the DVF database.
Residences of more than 300 m² sold in 2025 at a median price of €822,000 and an average of €1.32 million, at a median of €2,308 per m² of living space, up 17% since 2020. The median price of a hectare of forest stood the same year at €4,936, up 1.9%, for an average of €6,214, and the market has risen steadily for five years. The price per hectare follows a U-shaped curve according to area: high for small amenity parcels, it dips between 5 and 10 hectares, then climbs again for the large massifs, the ones that accompany a prestige residence.
| Forest area | Median price (€/ha) | Average price (€/ha) | Share of sales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 hectares | 6,059 | 7,783 | 28.5% |
| 2 to 5 hectares | 3,985 | 5,413 | 36.8% |
| 5 to 10 hectares | 3,443 | 4,805 | 17.6% |
| 10 to 20 hectares | 4,010 | 5,365 | 9.2% |
| 20 to 50 hectares | 5,330 | 6,445 | 5.4% |
| 50 to 100 hectares | 6,810 | 7,537 | 1.7% |
| More than 100 hectares | 7,361 | 8,016 | 0.9% |
An estate of 150 hectares of woodland thus represents, at the median price for large massifs, a little over €1 million of forest, to which are added the residence, its outbuildings, the lakes and the value of the game or the hunting lease. Regional differences are wide, from under €3,700 per hectare in Occitanie and Nouvelle-Aquitaine to more than €9,000 in Normandy. Detail by region and department is in our observatory of forest prices, and building prices in our observatory of luxury property prices; our financial tools and calculators let you cost the purchase.
Source: DGFiP DVF database, sales of forests and residences from 1 July 2020 to 31 December 2025, processed by ma-propriete.fr; rounded prices; residences = houses of more than 300 m² on less than 10 ha outside Paris.
The prestige forest estate is first of all a world of its own: a drive crosses the woods before reaching the chateau, the manor or the lodge, surrounded by a park, service buildings, keepers' cottages and often one or more lakes. The oak high forests of the Paris basin and Burgundy, the pine woods of the Landes, the beech woods of Normandy, the mixed woodland of the Sologne or the Périgord give each estate its character. The forest is sometimes a productive asset managed under a simple management plan, sometimes a hunting and leisure territory, most often both.
Area sets these estates apart from ordinary rural property: several dozen hectares at least, hundreds for the large hunting territories, up to holdings of more than a thousand hectares in the Sologne, the Allier or the Landes. The share of high forest, the age of the stands, the accessibility of the parcels and the presence of water then weigh on value as much as the residence.
The Sologne and the Loire valley, the Allier and the Nièvre, Burgundy, the Perche and Normandy form the historic heartland of large hunting estates with a chateau. The Landes and Gironde offer properties on their pine woods, often with a lake; the Périgord, the Limousin and the Gers residences on mixed woodland; the Vosges, the Jura and the Ardennes massifs of conifers and beech with a master house. Building prices are highest within Paris's sphere of influence and along the fast routes; forest prices follow the quality of the sites and the pressure of local demand.
On the forest: the sustainable management document in force, the health of the stands, particularly oak, spruce and ash, the history of felling and storms, rights of way and access. On hunting: the applicable regime, the hunting lease or rights granted, any membership of a communal hunting association, the balance between game and regeneration. On water: the status of the lakes, their administrative regularity, draining and management obligations. On the residence, finally: survey of roofs, timbers and services, and the constraints of any listing as a historic monument. SAFER pre-emption may apply to adjoining farmland.
These properties are often passed on discreetly, between families or through notaries and specialist agencies; the sale may concern the property itself or the shares of a forestry group, with distinct tax consequences. Forest benefits from a favourable regime for transfers and for the French property wealth tax, subject to sustainable management conditions; the residence falls under ordinary law. Our guide to buying a forest sets out the steps and the pitfalls, our white paper on forest ownership management and taxation, and the article on the taxation of luxury real estate purchase structures. For the buildings, our article chateau for sale: how to make a success of your purchase completes this preparation.
The presence of a residence of character and its outbuildings, which adds residential and heritage value to the massif. A forest on its own is valued on its timber and its hunting; the prestige estate adds a home.
At the median price for massifs of more than 100 hectares, 300 hectares represent around €2.2 million of forest, before the residence, the lakes and the outbuildings; regional differences and the quality of the stands can double that figure in either direction.
Yes; the hunting can be let under a lease to a third party or a hunting syndicate, which provides an income and ensures the game control needed for the forest to regenerate.
Yes, subject to a sustainable management commitment: partial exemption from gift and inheritance duties and from the property wealth tax on the value of the woods; these advantages do not extend to the residence.
Listings of prestige forest estates are placed by private owners, specialist agencies and notaries; filter them by region, price, wooded area and type of residence, then set an e-mail alert to follow new properties as they come to market. Depending on your project, extend your search to hunting properties, woods and forests sold on their own or chateaux for sale. Owners selling a forest estate with a residence can place their listing here and reach buyers looking specifically for this type of property.
