Opening a gîte business in rural France was this couple’s dream – a dream that, despite the recession, is proving to be a real commercial success. Words Sarah Monaghan

Seeing John and Mary Jack out and about around their rural home in Brittany, you would think they had always lived here. John is a keen boules player, who joins the locals three times a week in the village square, while Mary can be found each morning in the local boulangerie, buying croissants and gossiping happily in French with the owner Marie-Christine. In the evening the couple sit in their landscaped garden and enjoy the view of the church spire rising through the trees as they sip a glass of wine. Having moved to France to establish a gîte business, this couple have managed to achieve exactly the pace and quality of life they want.

Seven years ago though, life was very different. John was a civil servant in Warwickshire, where Mary was a dental practice manager. “Our children were grown up and we’d had quite enough of the rat race,” says John.

So, decision made, they just had to find their perfect property. That took several months of Internet and heart searching. They were drawn to Brittany because they knew it offered easy access from the UK. “That was important for our potential gîte customers,” John says. “And we knew we needed a big property from which we could derive an income.”

“The moment I saw this place, I thought ‘this is it’,” says Mary. The couple agreed to buy their 19th-century farmhouse before John had even seen it because he was unable to be in France when Mary first viewed the property. “I have to admit,” Mary says, “that as we drove down through Brittany behind the removal van and into the village, I felt very nervous when I said, ‘Here it is, the house where you’re going to spend the rest of your life…’”
The property comprises two adjoining houses: one of two storeys, and another of three. They’re set within two acres, with a further three outhouses, which have the potential to be updated to provide further gîte accommodation. The picturesque stone-built, slate-tiled properties are full of rustic charm, with sloping ceilings, wooden beams and open fireplaces.

 

Having sold up in the UK, the couple had spare cash to spend on updating the bathrooms, improving the décor, fitting the house out to a high standard and installing a spa pool in the barn. That, they say, has been a luxury extra that has really helped encourage bookings.

 

Words: Sarah Monaghan

Read the full article in our June 2009 issue.