Many of us dream of following in the footsteps of Dick and Angel Strawbridge.
In 2015, the intrepid couple swapped Essex for the Pays de la Loire and took on the daunting task of restoring a crumbling 45-bedroom French wreck to its former glory.
It had been empty for 40 years. And their ups and downs – from installing plumbing, heating and replacing the roof, to creating a sky bar for star gazing - have been documented by Channel 4 over eight series and counting.
But you don’t have to Escape to the Chateau to enjoy la belle vie, as west Norfolk couple David and Helen Wootton have proved.
David’s mother was French, and the professional photographer, who had worked for publications including National Geographic, had always wanted to retire to France.
The couple’s ideal was a house in the countryside with some barns which they could renovate into holiday gites to generate them some income.
Last year, against the backdrop of the pandemic, their dream became a reality when they welcomed their first guests to La Martiniere bed and breakfast.
As David explains, when they began the search for their perfect French home, they set their sights on the Normandy area, for the ease of coming back to the UK to visit relatives, and started looking at online property sites.
“I went through a list of about 100 properties and then we looked at them in more detail and edited them down, so when we came over here we arranged with the estate agents to see a dozen properties,” says David
They ended up finding their perfect home in Mayenne, on the Normandy/Loire border, about 20 minutes away from the Strawbridges’ Chateau de la Motte-Husson.
And they snapped up a large two-bedroom cottage, plus two barns and around three acres of land for just £150,000 – an amount that would buy a one-bedroom flat in Norwich city centre.
At prices like that it’s easy to see why so many people from the UK are drawn to the French countryside.
“We’re in the corner of Normandy, Mayenne and Brittany, so the coast is only an hour away, we’ve got the countryside here and for people who are interested in the D-Day landings then they were just north of us here as well,” says David.
“The house itself needed very little work doing to it, and it had two structurally very good barns, but they were still cow sheds, there were cows in them, and they were filthy and needed a full renovation with the roof and everything done to them.”
They sold up in west Norfolk and moved to France in December 2019.
Of course, little did they know then that a few months later a pandemic would be sweeping the globe.
“We got the planning permissions [for the gites] and the idea was to start with the renovation in March – and then Covid came.”
Fortunately, there wasn’t too much of a delay to their timetable.
“President Macron made it that construction could still continue, so we were only put back a little bit,” says David.
“French builders did the new roof on the main barn in June 2020 and we needed a new septic tank and drainage and that was done by a French company in July.
"And then our British builder, a guy who’s been out here renovating barns and things for years, started in the August, doing the actual renovation itself.”
The couple wanted to offer a slightly different kind of holiday accommodation to what was already available in the area.
“Because of the size of the barns there are lots of gites around here that sleep six, eight 10, 12 people,” says David.
“What we wanted to do was split the barn in two and so we’ve created two apartments, L'Hirondelle and La Huppe, which each suit two people.”
And it was important that they retained their character.
“We wanted to keep the feel of a Normandy barn, with the lovely oak beams, but we wanted it to be modern too. Our beds are hand-made beds, super kingsize, which we went to the factory to see made.
“For some of the furniture we went to the French brocantes [flea markets] and bought second hand furniture and then I renovated them and varnished them and whatever to make them nice,” says David.
“You can buy an oak dining table for under 100 Euros and by sanding it all down and giving it numerous coats of varnish, the oak comes up beautifully.
“So we’ve got the new and the old.”
They spent around £100,000 on the renovation and La Martiniere bed and breakfast was ready to welcome its first guests by the end of March 2021.
David and Helen listed it on sites like Airbnb and Booking,com, and since then, despite Covid limiting travel, they’ve had 200 people to stay from 21 countries.
“The majority of our guests have been French. We’ve also had Belgians, Dutch, Danes and Germans, but we have had people from South Africa, Canada, India and Israel,” says David.
“We’re only three hours from Paris, so we get a lot of weekenders.”
And it sounds idyllic.
“We are very rural,” says David. “There are cows in the field making the milk for the camembert cheese, around us we’ve got the cider orchards for the calvados and the cider.
“And within an hour of us we’ve got lots to see. The most famous is Mont-St-Michel, the cathedral on the mound in the bay. And we’ve got some lovely old medieval towns around us, so it’s the sort of place where people who want a quiet country holiday go walking or cycling – there are thousands of kilometres of back roads with no traffic.
“At night time, on clear nights there is no light pollution and you can see the stars fantastically. And we get barn owls around the house we get the deer in the garden.
“If you like seafood the Brittany coast isn’t far away to get fresh oysters and mussels and things like that. And, of course, there’s a lot of history, from the Bayeux tapestry through to the Normandy landings.”
They plan to start renovating the second barn at the end of this year, ready to open in April 2023.
David says that there is a good supply of properties like theirs in France, which just need someone to come along and give them some love and care.
“There are places like the south of France where you get million pound properties, but across rural France there ae still lots of bargains to be had. There are lots of old farmhouses.”
However, since Brexit, it has become more difficult to move to France from Britain.
David has a French passport and that entitles Helen to a Carte de Sejour residence permit.
For British passport holders, though, there is now extra bureaucracy to deal with.
If you buy a holiday home, you can only stay for a maximum of 90 days during a 180- day period if you haven’t applied for a long-stay visa.
But, all that aside, David says there is much to recommend the rural French way of life. In some ways, it’s like stepping back in time.
“You get up in the morning, you go and get fresh bread from the bakery, you go to the supermarket, there might be one person in front of you. All the shops are closed on Sundays – they expect people to take the weekend off.
“It takes a it takes a while getting used to everything closing between 12 and 2pm, because I know when we were renovating the barn you could guarantee at five to 12 you wanted that certain screw you hadn’t got, but the DIY shop was closed down for two hours.
“But it’s just so stress free.”
David's tips for buying in France
Do your research on the ground. Property websites are great resource, but according to David you will find more properties advertised in estate agents’ windows.
Don’t rush into it – view your property a couple of times. Remember that in France you don’t have a survey done as part of a house sale like you would in the UK, so be aware that you might not know about a property’s potentially costly issues before picking up the keys.
Renovating a property in France can be a slow business. “If you’re trying to find builders, plumbers or electricians, if they’re any good they’re booked up for a year,” says David.
“The best tip for lunch is to look out for white vans parked outside,” says David. “Everything stops for lunch and if you’re in a little village and there’s a restaurant and there’s a plumber’s van parked outside, you know that it’s good.”
For more information see LaMartiniereBnB on Facebook.
How to make your own escape to the Chateau
Do you dream of following in Dick and Angel Strawbridge's footsteps? Karen Tait, editor of French Property News magazine, shares her top tips
What does the buying process in France entail and is it safe?
In France, the buyer is much more protected than in England. Contracts are signed earlier in the process, after a price has been agreed, so you can’t then be gazumped.
The initial sales contract, usually called the 'compromis de vente', is signed by the buyer/s and seller/s.
The buyer (not the seller) then has a 10-day cooling-off period, during which they can pull out of the purchase for any reason.
After that, the deposit is paid and the contract becomes legally binding – neither the buyer or seller can pull out without penalty unless one of the conditional clauses added to the contract (for example, getting a mortgage) has not been met.
All property sales must be overseen by a 'notaire', who does the searches and conveyancing, which usually takes around three to four months, and collects any taxes due at completion.
If everything is in order, the final contract or deed of sale, the 'acte de vente', is signed by all parties and the final funds are transferred along with the notaire and agency fees.
Can British people buy a French property and move to France post-Brexit?
The good news is that the property buying process hasn't changed at all since Brexit and there are no limitations on foreigners buying property in France.
What has changed, however, is the amount of time you can spend visa-free within Europe's Schengen Zone, and hence France – known as the 90 in 180 days rule.
Basically, you can spend up to three months at a time in France (or the Schengen Zone as a whole) after which time you need to leave and cannot return for another three months.
To stay longer than three months you need to apply for a long-stay visa.
Brits can still move to France too – along with Americans, Australians and other nationalities – but you need to apply for a visa and then start the residency process.
What are the cheapest and most expensive areas?
It depends, of course, where you want to buy.
In Paris or on the French Riviera, property prices can be eye-watering.
However, in most rural areas of France there are bargains to be found.
The cheapest departments (like counties) are: Creuse, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region (average house price of €660/m² - so a typical 112m² house would cost €73,920); Haute-Marne, in the Grand-Est region (average house price €830/m² so a 112m² house would be €92,960); Nièvre, in Burgundy-Franche-Comté (average house price €870/m², 112m² house €97,440); Meuse, in the Grand-Est region (average property price €890/m², 112m² house €99,680); and Indre, in the Centre-Val-de-Loire region (average property price €950/m², 112m² house €106,400).
Which areas are popular with British buyers?
British buyers tend to favour rural areas with quaint villages, historic market towns, beautiful scenery, great local gastronomy and a traditional, relaxed lifestyle.
This includes areas like Brittany, Normandy, Dordogne, Charente, Midi-Pyrénées and Languedoc-Roussillon.
While these areas are authentically French, there's usually some sort of expat community to call upon too.
They also offer very affordable property.
What considerations should people take into account before buying and/or renovating?
Think carefully about how you're going to use your property, whether a holiday home or permanent move.
How will you spend your leisure time? Will you need access to job opportunities? What amenities do you need close by (supermarkets, doctor, school, bars/restaurants etc). How will you get there, or how will friends or family visit (local airport, train station, road networks)? Is the area lively year-round or just during tourist season?
When it comes to the property, it can be tempting to buy a rambling place at a knock-down price, but do you really need all that space? Remember you'll need to heat it, especially in light of rising fuel prices, and maintain and clean it!
Likewise, how big a garden do you need, especially for a holiday home? You don't want to spend all your precious holidays mowing grass.
Renovation projects can be particularly appealing. It's easy with a little imagination to picture your dream home once it's all finished.
But only buy a renovation property if you're sure that's what you want and have done your research.
Many unfinished projects come onto the market as a result of people being unrealistic about costs and timescales.
You may find that buying an already renovated property doesn't cost any more. And if you're buying a renovation project to run as a B&B or gîtes, bear in mind that all the time you're working on the property getting it ready for paying guests, you won't be receiving an income.
An up-and-running gîte business can start bringing in the money straight away.
Are gîtes popular with British expats?
Yes, for various reasons. It's ideal if you're moving to France and don't have a good level of French but need to make a living as you can market your holiday accommodation to the British market (you'll still need to speak to local authorities and suppliers etc in French, of course).
You can buy a holiday and business rolled into one, and work from home with your partner or family.
If you just need to top-up a pension, a single gîte can be effective - but note that to bring in a full income, you'll probably need several gîtes.
Also, many people who enjoy hosting friends and family like the idea of welcoming guests to their home – but if you're doing this as a business, it can be wearing always being polite with a smile on your face - there's no guarantee you'll like all your guests!
And I'm sure most B&B and gîte owners would say don't underestimate the amount of work it takes, especially on changeover days!
To find out more about living and working in France, visit completefrance.com
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