BUYING CASE STUDY CASE STUDY BUYING

Meet the Movers

NAMES: Rupert Springfield and Franck van der Hooft Clockwise: One-bedroom Le Mazet is perfect for couples MOVED IN: 2015 and has an outdoor area for relaxing in the sun; the main MOVED FROM: Amsterdam house, Le Mas, has five en suite bedrooms; there’s plenty of MOVED TO: Dordogne room in Le Mas’s new kitchen; WEBSITE: www.lemasdordogne.com high ceilings give Le Mazet’s Dordogne Dreams interior an airy feel Rupert Springfield and Franck van der Hooft fell in the property to traffic hubs such as airports, as well as the need to define our target love with the Dordogne one summer, there and then group and understand what kind of holiday making plans to return and create their perfect home property they look for.

and business. They’ve turned the fantasy into reality! FE: How did you find the property? The Dordogne RS: After viewing 70 houses over a two- year period, we drove up a winding private FRENCHENTRÉE MAGAZINE: How did you on the back of an envelope and announced lane through a wild wood and open fields to pick this area? that we could not only afford to buy a Le Mas, a group of farm buildings perched RUPERT SPRINGFIELD: In 2013, my property, but could also generate enough on a hill overlooking stunning Dordogne Why Go There? husband Franck and I came on holiday to income by renting out gîtes to pay our bills. countryside. Our hearts beat faster. There THE DORDOGNE the Dordogne and were surprised by how We would be sacrificing good salaries, but was the main farmhouse, lived in by a In the heart of southwestern France, the affordable properties were here – considering also the high costs that come with living in couple and five dogs, a one-bedroom cottage Dordogne is named after the river flowing how beautiful the Dordogne is, with its great a city. No more big holidays, new suits, or that was rented out very successfully, and through it. With its glorious landscape, history, gastronomy, climate and tranquillity. annual parking permits. lots of outbuildings – one of which was a romantic châteaux, bastides and ancient At the time, we were living in a wonderful, Two things got us through that early barn for drying tobacco, or rather a dumping caves containing prehistoric art, it really but minuscule, 17th-century flat right in period in which we tried to turn our ground for old farm machinery and ancient packs a punch. Try regional specialities duck the heart of Amsterdam. Franck, who is dream into a serious plan. Firstly, we were beams and doors. We knew Le Mas was the and truffles and local tipples from popular vineyards such as Montbazillac and Bergerac Dutch, had had a long career as a theatre convinced we could do it, even though place for us; we could convert the tobacco while you’re here. Transport links are good, producer (including producing the first ever we had no idea about running a business barn into an amazing house for ourselves with three international airports in the region. European tour of Cirque de Soleil) and I was in France – let alone a gîte. Without this and transform the main house and cottage head of fundraising for the Dutch breast conviction, we would have given up and still into gîtes. cancer charity. be in Amsterdam. The second thing was I was approaching 40, tired of living in the advice and help of others. Very early on, FE: It was quite an ambitious project. Were GOT A Share it with us! REAL LIFE such a cramped city (I am English, but lived we acknowledged that we were novices, you at all daunted by the extent (and cost) STORY? Email editor@frenchentree. in Amsterdam for 15 years before moving so every time we met anyone who had the of the renovation needed? com or write to: to France) and wanted to take advantage of experience or knowledge we lacked, we RS: The question was: could we afford FrenchEntrée Magazine, having no kids and few responsibilities. would soak up everything they were willing to purchase the property, renovate it and France Media Group, Cambridge So we sat down in the garden of the gîte to share with us. We learnt the differences GOMMANS RUPERT SPRINGFIELD/STELLA furnish it with our limited budget? We were House, Henry Street, Bath BA1 1JS, UK © we were renting in Trémolat and I scribbled between running chambres d’hôtes and lucky to have been introduced to Joris van

down some numbers, plucked out of thin air, gîtes, the importance of the proximity of IMAGES Grinsven, a Dutch interior designer who ➤

50 FRENCHENTRÉE MAGAZINE SPRING 2018 SPRING 2018 FRENCHENTRÉE MAGAZINE 51 BUYING CASE STUDY CASE STUDY BUYING “Good luck, hard work, and the help and advice of others has led to a successful business, a We Say… “The Dordogne is a large département, and you beautiful home, and great new friends” could easily drive two hours from one end to the other, so allow plenty of time to explore on your next house-hunting trip!” Fleur Buckley, Property Services Manager, FrenchEntrée Property Services

it or what they might have got for it when us. Although Franck’s French is very good, the market was buoyant. We sometimes happily our notary and bank manager speak heard of buyers negotiating up to 40 per cent English and our accountant is Dutch. off asking prices, which made us question whether to view properties over our budget FE: What advice would you give to anyone or not. It made house-hunting harder than it considering starting a gîte/or any business should have been. When we bought, we only in France for that matter? negotiated on the price slightly, because we RS: Do as much research as possible felt the asking price was fair. The vendors beforehand. There are many forms of included a lot of furniture and garden business in France, each has its own machinery in the sale and offered us and our rules and regulations, advantages and builders unlimited access to the property disadvantages. Choosing the right form is before the purchase. crucial, so get advice from an accountant about what would suit you best. FE: Is there anything you’d do differently? Explore other gîte businesses in your area, RS: In all honesty, no. We are loving our life in look at their rental rates and availability France. We are our own bosses, so our time calendars and use them as the basis of your really is our own. Even when I am dealing business plan. Join Facebook groups of with the septic tanks or shovelling tonnes gîte owners or go to laymyhat.com to follow of gravel by hand, I am happy I don’t have discussions about advertising, marketing, to commute anymore, or sit through weekly the running of gîtes and tax issues. team meetings or do annual appraisals. We There is so much information out there, had a dream for a new life in France, but the and the more informed you are, the fewer reality has surpassed the dream. Good luck, surprises you’ll have along the way. hard work, and the help and advice of others has led to a successful business, a beautiful FE: What has been the highlight so far? home, and great new friends. RS: Getting to know our guests. We never thought that they would want to spend time FE: Was the language barrier an issue? with us during their holiday – even though RS: Not in the Dordogne. We bought the we live on site, we do everything to ensure property directly from the owners, who their privacy. Yet often they invite us over for were English, which meant not paying drinks or dinner, as they have fallen in love commission to an estate agent. We used with what we have created here and want to Clockwise from main picture: A pool is a must during a small amount of the money we saved to know more. We’ve now got to know a range sweltering Dordogne summers; Le Mas has a wood- hire a Dutch expert on emigrating to France of hugely interesting people from all over the burning stove in the sitting room for chillier evenings; and setting up a business. He checked all one of Le Mas’s stylish bedrooms; an old tunnel in the world, and we really look forward to it when grounds; the sun terrace by the pool; the summer kitchen the contracts and planning applications for they return. ■ lived locally. He and his builders came up within budget. Every room was tackled, The rest we purchased throughout Europe, PROPERTY FOCUS www.frenchentree.com/property-for-sale with a quote for the work that just fitted we landscaped the garden and started wherever it was cheapest, rather than buying into our budget. So having never done marketing the gîtes, even though they everything in France – which saved us tens a project like this before, we bought Le weren’t finished. We had moved from a flat in of thousands of euros. In June 2016, we Mas and when the building permission Amsterdam where the bed came out of the opened for business. was granted two weeks later, the builders wall in the sitting room, to a property with moved in. We sold our flat in Amsterdam, eight bedrooms, eight bathrooms, four wood FE: What has been your biggest challenge? filled a van with our stuff and found ourselves burners, three kitchens and a swimming RS: Finding the right property to buy in living in France. pool. Our budget included over 3,000 items order to create a successful gîte business that we had to source to furnish the houses: and home. We had a clear idea of what we €493,000 / £440,180 €839,000 / £749,100 €196,200 / £175,180 FE: Did it all go to plan? everything from bedding to cutlery to sun wanted, but it seemed however that the LAKESIDE HOME: Six-bedroom Perigourdine-style FORMER MILL: Comprising a two-bed mill house, gîte STONE PROPERTY: Character four-bed stone house

RS: We lived on site during the eight loungers. Joris was brilliant in advising on asking price hardly ever corresponded to the PORRITT GOMMANS/BEN STELLA © property set in 17 acres overlooking a large lake. It also and three-bed house, this property is set in three hectares located between Bergerac and Eymet, with gîte months it took for us, Joris and his builders the main bits of furniture (hotel beds, big market value of a property, but was usually has easy access to market towns. Ref: VM8302 with a pool between Sarlat and Bergerac. Ref: 534VM potential and an acre of land. Ref: 72902

to transform the place – on time and comfy sofas with washable covers and so on). based on how much vendors had spent on IMAGES

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