A farmhouse for sale in Ain (01), a barn to convert or a smallholding with a few hectares of pasture: between the Bresse plain, the Dombes and the Bugey hills, the department has kept a varied stock of farm buildings that are now finding new uses. This page brings together the farmhouses, barns and mas for sale in Ain published on ma-propriete.fr: a timber-framed Bresse farmhouse, a stone Bugey farmhouse with outbuildings, a former Dombes farm by a fish pond, a barn to renovate with adjoining land.
Below you will find the actual prices of the Ain rural market, an overview of where to look, from the Bresse to the Bugey and the Pays de Gex, and the points to check before buying a former farm building. If your project is tourism-related, our white paper on setting up a rural gîte will help you cost it. Note too that the price gap between a raw barn and one already converted into a home often remains considerable, leaving room to negotiate for a buyer willing to take on the works.
There are no statistics dedicated to farmhouses and barns: a renovated farmhouse sells like a country house with outbuildings and land, whereas a bare barn or a farm to renovate often sells well below. The most useful benchmark therefore remains the price of country houses.
How much does a country house cost in Ain (01)? According to DVF data (notarised sales) analysed by the ma-propriete.fr observatory, the median price of a country house in Ain (01) stood at €257,221 in 2025, with an average price of €264,997 and a median price of €2,356/m² of living space (2,088 house sales in rural municipalities over the year). The price range is wide: 10% of houses sold for less than €147,940 (floor price, 1st decile) and 10% for more than €388,780 (ceiling price, 9th decile). The typical country house here offers 115 m² of living space on an average plot of 2,489 m², i.e. around 0.2 ha.
This market is above the regional median (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes: €230,000) and well above the national median (€189,200). Since the second half of 2020, the median price has risen from €220,975 to €257,221, i.e. +16.4%; over one year (2024-2025) the change is +3.7%.
| 2025 indicator | Ain | Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | France |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median price | €257,221 | €230,000 | €189,200 |
| Average price | €264,997 | €246,927 | €207,100 |
| Floor price (1st decile) | €147,940 | €98,000 | €90,000 |
| Ceiling price (9th decile) | €388,780 | €410,000 | €340,000 |
| Median price per m² of living space | €2,356/m² | €2,200/m² | €1,830/m² |
| Average living space | 115 m² | 109 m² | 108 m² |
| Average plot size | 2,489 m² | 3,243 m² | 3,181 m² |
| Number of sales in 2025 | 2,088 | 16,528 | 150,313 |
A departmental average hides large gaps. A smallholding to renovate, a restored longère with its outbuildings, a farmhouse on several hectares of land or a manor house with parkland do not sell at the same price, and the location matters as much as the building: coastline, tourist area, peri-urban countryside close to a job market or deep countryside. The table below shows the median price of country houses in Ain (01) by type of municipality (cumulative sales from mid-2020 to 2025) and its change between 2021 and 2025.
| Type of municipality | Median price 2020-2025 | Median price per m² | Change 2021-2025 | Sales 2020-2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inland tourist areas (hinterland, mountains) | €200,000 | €1,918/m² | +4.5% | 250 |
| Peri-urban countryside (city catchment area) | €250,000 | €2,325/m² | +4.0% | 8,023 |
| Deep countryside (outside urban influence) | €243,000 | €2,259/m² | +13.1% | 3,496 |
These benchmarks help you assess a listing, estimate a property before putting it up for sale, or set your budget for a holiday home or a permanent move to the French countryside. To go further, see our observatory of country house prices in France (national, regional and departmental analysis, downloadable annual report) and work out the full cost of your purchase, including French notary fees, with our notary fees calculator.
The Bresse farmhouse is easy to recognise from its wooden timber frame and cob infill, its tall sarrasine chimneys topped with flat tiles, and its farm buildings arranged in an L or U shape around a courtyard. In the Bugey and Revermont hills, the buildings change character: limestone stone walls, steeper roofs, a cowshed and barn attached to the house. There are no mas in Ain: the Provençal term has no local equivalent here, people instead speak of a Bresse, Bugey or Dombes farmhouse.
These buildings often include a sizeable stand-alone barn that can be converted into a home or into several gîtes, subject to planning zoning and a building permit. The adjoining farmland, from a few thousand square metres to several hectares, can suit livestock, horses or a permaculture project, particularly around the Dombes fish ponds.
The Bresse area, around Bourg-en-Bresse, Pont-de-Vaux, Montrevel-en-Bresse and Saint-Trivier-de-Courtes, has the widest choice of timber-framed farmhouses and barns to renovate. The Dombes, between Villars-les-Dombes and Châtillon-sur-Chalaronne, offers farmhouses next to fish ponds. Towards the Bugey, around Belley, Nantua and Hauteville-Lompnes, stone farms sit in valleys between the Rhône and the Jura foothills.
Near the Pays de Gex and the Swiss border, old farm properties are scarce and clearly above the regional average. Around Bourg-en-Bresse and along the Ambérieu-en-Bugey–Lyon axis, served by the Bourg-en-Bresse TGV station, the market stays more accessible than close to Geneva. The villages around Trévoux and Meximieux, closer to the Lyon urban area, are also seeing growing pressure on old farm buildings.
Check the permitted use of the buildings: a barn classified in an agricultural zone of the local plan can only become a home if the planning document identifies it as eligible for a change of use. Look at the roof (tiles, but also asbestos-cement sheets on more recent sheds), the timber frame, often old, and the drainage, which frequently needs bringing up to standard.
If farmland comes with the buildings, ask about any current farm lease and the pre-emption right of the Safer, the French rural land agency. Finally, cost the renovation precisely: restoring a stone or timber-framed barn often costs as much as buying the property itself. Finally, on older Bresse farmhouses, also check the condition of the timber frame and cob infill, which are sensitive to damp where the render has not been maintained.
On ma-propriete.fr, filter Ain farms and barns by budget, built area and land area, set up an email alert to be told of new listings, and extend your search to all farmhouses, barns and mas for sale in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.
