Our story

Where did it all begin?

Having visited dear friends in mid and southern France for the previous couple of decades, we started to look seriously at buying in 2011. Initially we viewed totally unsuitable properties, far too big with acres of land that we wouldn’t have known what to do with. Malcolm succeeded in bringing me gently down to earth, and our wish list became more realistic, whilst still remaining a pretty ambitious 5-year plan. On the list was a full-scale renovation without too much land, on the outskirts of a lovely village which would have a baker, restaurant and/or bar, a classic château and be close to a larger town with a full selection of shops and restaurants. Oh, and ideally be near a river. We chose the region from what we had already experienced - the quieter region of the Dordogne, north of the Vezere and Dordogne rivers, in the Dronne river valley, south of the Limousin region. In 2012, whilst on holiday with friends in a nearby gîte, we approached 2 local Immobilier and started the serious search. Having been estate agents in Turkey in an earlier life, it was a real pleasure to view the dozen or so houses we’d shortlisted from the hundreds on offer. And enlightening to learn that some sellers were much more serious and earnest than others. Le Capinet was the last property on the list and initially looked quite unprepossessing and you needed a good dose of imagination to envision its potential. It was fully furnished, so you could almost move in there and then. But having listed and discussed the pros and cons of each property over several glasses of local Bergerac wine, Le Capinet, a 4 bedroomed farmhouse with attached barn overlooking the river, rose to the top of the list. It was time to request a second viewing. The location at the edge of the picturesque village of Bourdeilles situated across the river Dronne, with its dramatic châteaux near the town of Brantome and city of Périgueux ticked all the boxes. That reinforced our convictions and with the agent’s advice, we made a realistic offer, well below the original asking price, but allowed for the cost of the total renovation obviously required. Our offer was accepted !! Immediate thoughts of “What have we done” came to mind. We’d originally planned for a 5-year project, as we gradually cut employment time in preparation for retirement and envisaged doing a lot of work ourselves in holiday periods, whilst recognising that we’d need a builder for the heavy renewal tasks of the framework of the house. The actual purchase process was surprisingly straight forward, much more trouble free than our experiences in the UK, possibly because of our sensible recognition at the outset of the work required. With the help of a local architect, our ideas were put on paper in an acceptable format, and the planning permission was granted after 2 months (if you don’t hear anything it usually means it’s approved). Fortunately we were over 500m from the Châteaux and the strict regulations of the Bâtiments de France (similar to listed building controls in UK).