My husband and I quit our jobs and bought a 500-year-old hamlet in the French countryside. Here's how we transformed it into a successful rental business and our dream home.
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Liz Murphy, a 45-year-old owner of Lac de Maison, a 17th-century French hamlet and holiday rental. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
On a whim in August 2020, we began looking at gîte businesses — vacation-rental homes in France — that were available to purchase. We dreamed about escaping to the French countryside.We'd need a property with at least two gîtes to rent and two additional houses: one for our family and one for my mom, Helen, and her husband, Terry.
During that time, Brexit happened, changing all the rules and turning our move into a flurry of passports and spreadsheets.We renovated 2 buildings while running the businessTwo weeks in, Mom and Terry realized that space wasn't suited to their purposes. And though we hadn't budgeted for it initially, they decided to pay for a renovation.What started as a new bathroom became a complete overhaul, down to the bricks.
The learning curve was steep, but since we both love people and had been on holiday before, we knew the kind of experience we wanted to deliver. A bigger village is just a bit down the road where the kids go to school. There's also a movie theater, a library, and a café.
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