Paris 14th: green spaces, buildings and outdoor space

The district's big open spaces

Parc Montsouris is the best known. The Observatoire garden, the Cité internationale universitaire park and Jardin Atlantique add to it. The last of these covers the tracks of Gare Montparnasse. Smaller, the Aqueduc garden, inside Jardin Marie-Thérèse-Auffray, keeps remains of the Roman aqueduct of Lutetia. On rue de Coulmiers, Jardin Françoise-Héritier and Jardin Vert-Tige complete the list, along with a series of squares: Serment-de-Koufra, Abbé-Migne, Claude-Nicolas-Ledoux, Ferdinand-Brunot, Auguste-Renoir.

This density of public greenery changes how people buy. Someone who gives up a 15 m² terrace for a more central flat still has Parc Montsouris a few minutes away on foot. Someone who picks a large terrace counts on it for meals, children and plants, and uses the park less.

Courtyards, villas and studios

The 14th has kept its artists' enclaves. Villa d'Alésia housed the studios of Henri Matisse (at 37 bis) and Édouard-Marcel Sandoz (at 2 bis). Villa Seurat was home to Chana Orloff (at 7 bis), Blaise Cendrars, Henry Miller and Anaïs Nin (at 18). On rue Daguerre, Alexander Calder and Henri Rousseau had studios, Rousseau at number 44. On avenue du Maine, Diego Rivera lived at number 52.

Some current listings come from this fabric. A 138 m² Carrez duplex near rue Daguerre opens at garden level in a cul-de-sac the listing calls confidential. In Petit-Montrouge, a four-room ground-floor flat sits in a residence at the back of a courtyard with a workshop-style architecture, a 15 m² terrace and planted areas around it.

What the listings show

Of the 32 properties in the 14th with outdoor space, 15 declare a balcony, 14 a terrace and 3 a garden, some having several. Seven are on the top floor and five at garden level. Nine are new and five need renovation. The most common energy rating is E (9 properties), ahead of D (6) and C (5). For new properties, the rating is shown as "not applicable" or is missing in our data.

These proportions describe the current stock, not the 14th's market as a whole. They change with every sale.

Reading the exposure

Listings give orientation as letters: S, SE, W, or NESO when the listing names all four directions. The letter describes the flat, not necessarily the terrace. A terrace set back on the facade can face east while the living room faces due south.

A south-facing outdoor space gets sun for much of the day, which matters in summer. An east-facing terrace has the morning and a cooler afternoon. The safest way is to visit at the hour you plan to use it, and to ask for a plan with north marked.

The calm of a courtyard, and its rules

An outdoor space on a courtyard shields you from street noise, but not from neighbours. Overlooking is judged on site. A ground-floor terrace is seen from above by the floors over it: look at the windows overhead.

Co-ownership rules apply to the letter. Article 3 of the law of 10 July 1965 places terraces, gardens and courtyards among common property in principle, unless an exclusive right of use exists. Since the Élan law, that right must be written into the co-ownership rules. An owner who wanted to cover or close a terrace needs a vote at a general meeting, and sometimes a planning permit.

On surface, the Carrez law leaves out balconies, terraces and gardens. An "80 m² with a terrace" therefore counts 80 m² indoors. If the size of the outdoor space matters to you, ask for it in writing, because the legal statement covers only the Carrez surface.

Visiting a property with outdoor space

A visit in daylight is not enough. Go back at the hour you expect to use the space: in the evening for a dinner, in the morning for breakfast in the sun. Listen to the courtyard, look at the windows that face it, note the state of the floor and the drains. Photograph the ceiling of rooms under an upper-floor terrace, or the underside of a balcony: damp shows there before anywhere else.

Ask about watering and upkeep too. In a planted residence, some green areas are run by the managing body and others by each owner.

Works to anticipate

Waterproofing on a roof terrace or a balcony wears out. The minutes of the last three general meetings say whether works have been voted. In a residence with its own managing body, such as those built around a courtyard, these decisions are not those of the neighbouring street building.

Two outdoor spaces, two ways of living

Two real listings show the gap. On the ground floor in Petit-Montrouge, a four-room flat of 80.37 m² with a 15 m² terrace is offered at €790,000, which is €9,830 per m² before fees. On rue Roger, a 155 m² triplex takes the top floors with its terrace, at €1,350,000, or €8,710 per m². The first relies on the calm of a courtyard and level access. The second relies on height and light, with an east-west exposure.

The lowest price per m² belongs to the larger property. Beyond the outdoor space, surface, condition and address weigh on the price, and the energy rating differs: D for one, E for the other. For each, the status of the outdoor space is read in the co-ownership rules.