The Loire
As an interior designer and antique dealer, Rosemary Conquest from London travelled all over France sourcing material. She and her husband Richard loved their trips and in 2006 they decided to move to France and chose the Loire Valley as their dream location.
Rosemary says the architecture and the Chateaux had great allure but “also this is very much traditional France and it is possible to drive back to the UK easily in a day”, important for family visits.
Their first French house was in Samur but four years later they completely fell in love with a rather negected 14th Century Manoir in the southern Loire Valley. By now, their son Ben had moved to that area and Rosemary and Richard wanted to live closer to him and his family.
Rosemary says “we didn’t know the immediate area but the minute we saw Manoir de la Foulquetière, we decided to buy it straight away. Richard told the agent
as soon as we stepped into the Salon and that was that.”
She adds that for anyone looking to buy a property in France her top tips would be:
“Rent somewhere to really get to know the area well and make sure you like it before you make your final purchase. There are bargains to be had but you need to be very careful”, a good agent can make a great difference.
Surrounded by stunning parkland and countryside close to Valencay, the Manoir was perfect for a B&B business and had a few outbuildings the couple thought would make wonderful gites. There was quite a bit of work to be done and the couple’s four children Emily, Daisy, Tom and Ben were all keen to help out.
The result is stunning.