Originally from the Midlands and the North east of England, we met at Lancaster University where we completed our degrees and had 2 babies along the way! Then we moved to Ireland where we renovated an old house, whilst living in caravans for 3 years and another baby was born there in the caravan! Then we bought 15 acres and erected a flat-pack wooden Scandinavian home. After 14 years in Ireland, when our kids were nearly grown, we were craving the sun and pastures new, so we moved to France in 2011 with our 11 year old and 15 year old girls.
I was attracted to the Charente Maritime area having worked here as an ‘au pair’ in my youth, and loved the countryside, the beaches, the outdoor life and the sun. We bought a holiday home here with the plan to move over in a few years, but I dug my heels in and never returned. After a few years, I was working as an estate agent and I came to look at a property to put on our books. I drove down the track, over the stone bridge, past the lakes and pulled up in front of the tower of “Sept Fonts” and instantly fell in love with the place. We had no idea how we would buy it but we knew we would have to work it out and by some lucky miracle, we did.
Since then we have spent as much of our time as we can bringing our dream home in the Charente Maritime to its former glory, which involved re-roofing, electrics, plumbing, flooring, basically everything. It has been a labour of love, as we really wanted to retain the character and history of the place.