Beginnings
How the gîte system started in 1955, what Émile Aubert's original programme was for, and what the épi grading that followed it actually measured.
3 pieces in this section
A wheat sheaf instead of a star.
Photo: Tymur Khakimov / Pexels
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1955: Gîtes Were Funded to Keep Farmers on the Land, Not to House Tourists
The founding of the gîte programme by Émile Aubert in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence in 1955 — the original subsidy logic (rural depopulation, not tourism revenue), the Fédération Nationale des Gîtes de France that grew from it, and the first properties to carry the label.
Beginnings -
The Épi That Replaced the Star: How Gîtes de France Graded Its Properties
The wheat-sheaf épi rating (one to five) that Gîtes de France used instead of hotel stars — what criteria it measured, how the grading evolved after 2009 when the system moved to a standardised comfort classification, and why the épi remains the recognisable mark.
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After 2020 the Buyers Went to the Creuse and the Dordogne
What the notaires' price series and INSEE second-home statistics show about the post-COVID rural property surge — price movement in the Creuse, Dordogne and Cantal between 2019 and 2023, the role of British and Dutch buyers, and what the zones de revitalisation rurale offered them.
Beginnings