Is it possible to buy a country house in Paris?
A house, a few trees, birds in the morning, a small street where cars barely pass, and the strange feeling of having left Paris. Yet, the metro is sometimes only a few minutes' walk away.
In this article
- What is called a country house in Paris?
- Where can one find this rural spirit?
- Does the "Campagne à Paris" (Countryside in Paris) live up to its name?
- Why is Montsouris so special?
- Can this lifestyle be found in the 16th arrondissement?
- Is a garden essential?
- Are these houses necessarily very expensive?
- What should I check before buying?
What do we call a "country house" in Paris?
It's not a real estate category. It's a feeling.
A true country house is obviously, by definition, located outside the city. Yet, some Parisian properties bring together enough characteristics to produce almost the same feeling: a detached house, a garden, greenery, little traffic, a small road and a certain distance from the urban bustle.
This phenomenon is particularly surprising because Paris is a densely populated city. Apartment buildings are by far the most common type of housing. The detached house therefore appears as a break in the landscape.
A few steps, a gate or a porch can be enough to completely change your world.
To recapture this feeling, you don't necessarily need to look for a huge property. A small house of 100 or 150 square meters with a small garden and a separate entrance can provide a greater sense of "country" living than an apartment three times larger.
What ingredients give a countryside feel to Paris?
A real door
Entering directly into one's home without crossing the lobby of a large building immediately changes the relationship to housing.
A garden
Even as a child, he introduces trees, flowers, seasons and outdoor uses into daily life.
The silence
A recessed road or a house at the back of the plot can create a dramatic break from the noise of the main roads.
A low height
Two or three levels surrounded by other houses give a scale much closer to a village than to a large metropolis.
Vegetation
Virginia creeper, wisteria, old trees and hedges can almost make neighboring facades disappear for part of the year.
A small street
A dead end, a villa, a private road or a cobbled street completely changes the perception of the immediate environment.
Where can you find a "country house" feel in Paris?
There is no single neighborhood. Paris has several forms of urban countryside, with very different histories and price levels.
Small villas and small gardens
Around the Rue de Mouzaïa and the Place Rhin-et-Danube, a network of small streets lined with houses creates one of the most unexpected atmospheres in Paris.
Narrow villas, low facades, vegetation and small gardens give some passages an almost village-like feel.
A housing estate perched in eastern Paris
Here, the name is not a real estate marketing ploy: the neighborhood is actually called the Countryside in Paris.
Its small townhouses, staircases and gardens form a unique residential enclave in the 20th arrondissement.
Cobblestone streets, workshops and 1920s architecture
Around Montsouris Park, several small streets offer an atmosphere that the City of Paris itself describes as a provincial feel.
Brick houses, artists' studios, Art Deco villas and vegetation make up a landscape completely different from the grand boulevards.
Houses, gardens and topography
The topography of the Butte and its history have preserved, in certain places, houses, workshops and gardens inserted into a very particular urban fabric.
In the quietest places, the terrain and vegetation can produce a feeling almost impossible to associate with the traditional image of Paris.
The most residential and heritage-oriented version
Auteuil has another form of Parisian countryside: family homes, private mansions, gardens, private villas and proximity to the Bois de Boulogne.
The surface areas and budgets can become much larger, but the principle remains the same: to find a house and greenery while staying within Paris.
Does the "Campagne à Paris" (Countryside in Paris) really live up to its name?
Yes, even though its history is very far removed from that of a rural village.
Located in the Saint-Fargeau district, the Campagne à Paris was developed on a former gypsum quarry. The housing development took place at the beginning of the 20th century.
The City of Paris states that it comprises more than 90 one- or two-story townhouses. Originally, these dwellings were intended primarily for low-income households.
What began as an answer to the housing question has, over time, become an extremely unique urban landscape.
The Paradox of the Countryside in Paris
These houses did not become desirable because they were built as prestige properties.
They have become rare because the city has changed around them. Their low height, small gardens and layout now constitute a type of housing that Paris can hardly reproduce on a large scale.
Real estate scarcity sometimes arises less from the initial luxury of a property than from the gradual disappearance of everything that resembles it.
Montsouris: perhaps the most elegant of the Parisian countryside
The southern part of the 14th arrondissement offers a particularly interesting combination: large park, narrow streets, houses and 20th-century architectural heritage.
Located in the immediate vicinity of Parc Montsouris, Square de Montsouris is a private road created in 1922 and open to public traffic. The City of Paris describes it as a small, sloping, cobbled street lined with Art Nouveau and Art Deco houses.
The Paris Tourist Office lists brick houses, artists' studios, and several remarkable architectural achievements in the area. The Maison Gaut is notably associated with the Perret brothers, while the Maison Ozenfant is a major work by Le Corbusier and Pierre Jeanneret.
This is probably one of the best examples of a Parisian country house that doesn't try to imitate the countryside. The atmosphere comes naturally from the scale of the street, its architecture, and its vegetation.
Auteuil: can you really live like you're in the countryside in the 16th arrondissement?
In some streets, yes — but with a completely different level of heritage and generally a significantly larger budget.
Auteuil retains townhouses, private mansions and private residential complexes which offer a much lower density than that of central Paris.
The market still offers houses with gardens, terraces, or protected environments. Some listings even explicitly use vocabulary like "bucolic" to describe these properties.
Nearby, the Bois de Boulogne further reinforces this impression of being able to combine Parisian life with a green environment.
And what about the Villa Montmorency?
This private residential enclave in Auteuil is an extreme case: behind its controlled access points are more than a hundred houses and mansions surrounded by gardens.
Some properties there reach dimensions that one would more readily associate with Neuilly, Saint-Cloud or a large residential town than with Paris proper.
In 2025, a property in the Villa Montmorency was listed for sale with approximately 1,400 m² of living space and 1,700 m² of gardens. This extreme example demonstrates how far the idea of "countryside living in Paris" can go.
Is a garden absolutely necessary to call it a country house?
Not necessarily. But it changes the experience enormously.
A small green courtyard, a terrace surrounded by foliage or a small garden can be enough to create a relationship with the outdoors that is very different from that of an apartment.
However, a real garden brings something extra: the possibility of seeing the seasons change from the comfort of your own home.
In spring, the first leaves gradually obscure the view of neighboring houses. In summer, the garden becomes an extra room. In autumn, the light changes. Winter reveals the facades once again.
To explore this question further, see our article: Can you buy a house with a garden in Paris?
Country house or second home: what's the difference?
The expression "country house in Paris" may seem paradoxical because it mixes two usually opposing uses.
A traditional country house is often a primary residence located in a rural area or a secondary residence used to escape the city at the weekend.
The bucolic Parisian house offers another option: to rediscover part of this art of living without organizing a departure from Paris.
Is a country-style house necessarily very expensive?
Rare does not always mean ultra-luxury, but rarity often ends up having a price.
Historically, several of these complexes were specifically created for populations who did not belong to the wealthiest classes. This is notably the case for the Campagne à Paris and some of the houses in the Square de Montsouris.
Their current desirability stems largely from the change in Paris: small houses surrounded by greenery have become much rarer than apartments.
The budget therefore depends heavily on the sector, the size and the nature of the property.
| Type of environment | House profile | What particularly influences the value |
|---|---|---|
| Mouzaïa | Small house/villa with small garden | Rarity, charm, tranquility, excellent condition and quality of the exterior |
| Countryside in Paris | Townhouse | Location within the development, garden, views and renovation |
| Montsouris | House, workshop or villa | Architecture, heritage, light and exterior |
| Montmartre | Hidden house / workshop | Tiny address, views, garden and tranquility |
| Auteuil | Family home / private mansion | Surface area, land, full ownership, amenities and confidentiality |
A general average would therefore make little sense. A small house in Mouzaïa and a private mansion in Auteuil belong to two radically different markets, even if both can offer a remarkable feeling of the countryside.
What if true wealth was simply silence?
In luxury real estate, we talk a lot about surface areas, addresses, materials, and price per square meter.
But certain residential qualities become all the more valuable the more difficult they are to manufacture.
You can remodel a kitchen. You can restore a parquet floor. You can completely transform a decor.
It is much more difficult to create a small road without traffic, to instantly grow a fifty-year-old tree, to remove a view overlooking the street, or to recreate a historic housing estate consisting solely of houses.
What should you check before buying a bucolic house in Paris?
Charm never negates the need for technical and legal checks. In fact, it's often the opposite: the more unusual the property, the more its history needs to be understood.
Full ownership
A visually independent house may nevertheless belong to a condominium or a complex with common rules.
The status of the road
Private villas and roads may have special charges, regulations or access conditions.
The garden
Boundaries, trees, shared walls, overlooking properties, access and development possibilities must be carefully studied.
The protective measures
Some houses or groups of houses benefit from architectural, heritage or landscape protections.
The works
Extension, raising, modification of facade or creation of a large bay window should never be assumed to be possible.
The basement
The history of the old Parisian quarries justifies particularly careful technical checks in certain areas.
The Paris Local Bioclimatic Urban Planning Scheme strengthens heritage protections in the Mouzaïa district and protects the countryside within Paris. Therefore, every project must be studied precisely at the plot level.
How do I search for this type of house in Paris?
Don't limit yourself to the phrase "country house". Advertisements rarely use this wording as the primary category.
Also check out our feature on the most secret houses in Paris .
Living in Paris without feeling like you live in Paris
That's probably what enthusiasts of these houses are looking for.
They don't necessarily want to leave the capital. Sometimes they simply want to change the way they live there.
Keep schools, restaurants, museums, transport and professional activity open while finding, once the gate is closed, something slower.
An outdoor table. A bicycle leaning against a wall. A few gardening tools. A ground-floor window that opens directly onto the plants.
Things that are perfectly ordinary in the countryside become almost extraordinary in Paris.
Continue our exploration of rare Parisian real estate
Sources and reference points
Article documented in particular from the resources of the City of Paris, Paris je t'aime – Tourist Office and documents devoted to the architectural heritage of the districts of Montsouris, Campagne à Paris and Mouzaïa.
The City of Paris notably indicates that the Campagne à Paris (Countryside in Paris) comprises more than 90 townhouses. Its documents relating to Montsouris also describe the network of small streets behind the park as offering a "provincial feel".
Real estate references visible in September 2026 also confirm the existence of an offer of houses with gardens in Auteuil and in the 16th arrondissement.
The neighborhoods and streets mentioned in this article do not, of course, mean that properties are permanently available there. In these micro-markets, the supply can be very low and irregular.