After another fruitless viewing trip to France we took the usual time for reflection. We had decided to try and line up some more viewings during our annual summer holiday. Whilst it can seem like an arduous task visiting properties that ultimately you will never buy, it can actually be helpful. Realising what you do not want is as important as what you do. This last trip helped us in two ways. It helped us to decide the area we really wanted to be in. It also made us realise that it may be advantageous to increase the budget and look for something that needed less renovation.

The only problem with having a very specific search area is that the notifications dry up. Increasing the budget however means you see houses that have not previously come up on your search. One sunny Saturday afternoon my husband excitedly showed me a property we hadn’t seen before. It was right in the heart of our search area and looked in great condition. This wasn’t just a beautiful house. It was a beautiful chateau!

We checked out the photos and contacted the agent for further details. We were so excited! Could we really buy a place like this? The following day I received an email from another agency offering yet another chateau for sale just down the road from the one we had seen yesterday. This one was bigger, more expensive and at first glance looked like a bit more of a project but we decided there and then that it was worth making a short trip to view them.

So in early July we arrived back in France for a whistle stop tour. It was a glorious day and as we had now grown accustomed we met our agent in a tiny village car park and followed him to the first viewing. On paper this one was not the one we had fallen in love with, it looked nice but was expensive considering the work we would need to do. The listing had been honest about the extent of the work needed but we headed out with open minds.

We turned off a narrow country lane onto a long tree lined driveway. The trees parted and the house came into view. The chateau was not your typical, towers and turrets type but a stunning building surrounded by a truly beautiful garden. The doors, windows and shutters were all open and we could not wait to get inside.

Inside the building was cool and welcoming against the heat of the day. We stepped into the biggest hallway we had ever seen. It travelled the full length of the house with rooms and other hallways leading off. The floor was lined with stunning terracotta tiles and the symmetrical double doors to the rooms gave an air of grandeur.

I can honestly say I had never been so excited by the prospect of owning a house. This place just felt right. It was crammed to the rafters with amazing original features, wall panelling, fire places, ceiling coving and floors in various states of repair. Some rooms were in fantastic condition and some were in dire need of repair following some storm damage to the roof.

It was indeed a massive undertaking but the thought of what the house could be filled us with wonderment. There was so much to see that we could have stayed all day but with the small matter of the other property to see we had to leave but arranged with the agent to return the following morning for a second viewing.

We drove to our next appointment in silence. We had so much running through our minds as we headed to what on paper was our favourite. Time to clear our heads and concentrate on the next property. This time we met the agent outside the local police station and followed him just down the road to the property. The chateau was on the fairly busy road (busy for rural France) that went into the nearby town but was set well back. We turned into the slightly overgrown drive and our jaws dropped!

Wow! We could not wait to get inside this building. The viewing started off well, the first couple of rooms were stunning. Granted there was work to be done but the high ceilings and original features were breathtaking. Upstairs was more of the same. Huge light filled bedrooms and a grand hallway with a gorgeous balcony overlooking the driveway.

Back downstairs we explored the extension and the gardens and promptly arranged to come back again the following day for a second viewing. As we drove back to our hotel for the night we were excited about seeing both properties again the following day.

Back at the hotel we looked through the photographs and made notes about the things we had been told by the agents. Tomorrow’s second viewings were all about looking past the excitement and focusing on the reality of what needed to be done to turn these beautiful buildings into family homes.

The final day of our visit was bathed in beautiful sunshine and we arrived bright and early at the second house we had looked at yesterday. The approach was just as impressive as it had been yesterday. When we got out of the car and walked around the garden we could see and hear a little more activity than the day before. Our agent advised us that the local town had two big events every year and the adjoining fields were used as a temporary campsite for a few days. This filled us equally with horror and excitement. Whilst we did not relish the thought of living next to a campsite you could not deny that this could be a great opportunity to rent out the house for a few days each year or provide land for parking. It was something to consider for sure.

Undeterred, we continued looking around the house. When we visited yesterday there had been something that had bothered us about the downstairs layout. Further discussions with the agent highlighted that the ground floor had been extended. Not a problem in itself but closer inspection showed that this extension had not been done well. This was mainly evident in the uneven floors where the two parts of the house came together. This was not a deal breaker but would add considerable work and cost to the renovation. We also discovered that the property had a well. This would be great for the extensive gardens. The issue faced was that the well access was inside the house!

We had a little time before our second appointment so we headed into town for refreshments. We sat outside a small bar in the heart of the town. The Tempo Latino festival was due to start that evening and the town was alive with people, music and dancing. We sipped our drinks in the sunshine and drank in the atmosphere. One thing was for certain, we loved this friendly little town. Even though we had looked in lots of areas, we kept coming back here. Mind and body refreshed we headed ten minutes out of town to take a second look at the first property we had seen yesterday.

We arrived to find another couple viewing the chateau but this allowed us to wander the gardens and have a good look at the exterior of the house. The first thing we spotted was quite a large crack near the roof and a large and very angry looking wasp nest. Both these things would have normally seen us run for the hills but there was something about this place. It felt good to be there, even better than yesterday.

We decided to wander the house and gardens alone and compare notes later. The agent was happy to let us spend as much time as we needed but stayed on hand to answer any questions. I wandered the house and gardens by myself and took videos to record my thoughts. I think I had already decided the day before but being back here confirmed it. I loved this house! The sticking point here was that we had upped our budget with the intention of buying something without so much renovation needed. This needed A LOT of work. The upside however was a lot of the rooms only needed redecorating so we could live here quite comfortably and renovate slowly.

We bid farewell to the agent and I actually felt sad leaving the house. I truly hoped this would not be the last time we would set foot inside the fantastic building.

By the time we reached the airport to return to the UK, we had already decided that the chateau with the dodgy extension and internal well was not for us. It was also too close to town. We are concerned about the structure of the extension and last but not least we were both smitten with the other chateau. It turned out to be a fairly short and straightforward discussion. So where did we go from here?

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