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A Coup de Coeur
on Panama's Azuero
Peninsula
About a decade
ago, a French
architect named Gilles
St.-Gilles and his
wife discovered the
east coast of
Panama
's
Azuero
Peninsula
. They came to visit
an Italian friend with
a home here on the
Pacific...and, as the
story goes, and as the
French would say, they
had a coup de
coeur. They fell
in love with the
place.
They proceeded to buy
about 300
hectares...to build a
house for
themselves...and then
a small hotel...and,
today, a decade later,
they're developing on
a full scale. It's an
extraordinarily
beautiful
spot...remote...carefully
and extravagantly
landscaped...with
views you don’t
easily forget of the
rocky coast and the
crashing Pacific.
But what sets the
place apart is the
attention to detail.
It is like nothing
I've ever seen in any
development any place
else. This is no
typical gringo
project...for Monsieur
St.-Gilles is no
gringo. His French
preoccupations with
appearances and
presentation are
evident down to the
mosaic paving stones
and the big iron bell
you must get out of
your car to ring by
hand to call someone
to come to open the
great wooden gate so
you can enter the
property.
Beyond this gate,
terraced on the hills
rising from the ocean,
stand a couple of
dozen houses...and 42
more under
construction. The most
affordable one
currently on offer is
a resale loft
apartment, priced at
$450,000. Farther up
the hill are
full-fledged
mansions...selling for
$1.5 million and more.
And they’re selling
as fast as M.
St.-Gilles can build
them.
The private oceanside
community of Azueros
is high-end, no
question, but M.
St.-Gilles is planning
a new phase that,
while no less
impressive, will be
priced more for the
buyer on a budget.
YES, please
get in touch. I'd like
to know more about the
Azueros oceanside
community!
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