A family who realized they were living in a rat race sold their three-bedroom semi-detached house for 400,000 pounds (approx. $488,400)—and bought an entire French village.
Liz and David Murphy purchased the historic rural hamlet of Lac De Maison, in Poitou-Charentes, southwest France, in January 2021.
“We were both working nine-to-five jobs in England with busy lives, and the kids were in after-school clubs, and it was like we were on an endless treadmill,” Ms. Murphy, 45, said. “It wasn’t until Covid came, and we were on this furlough, and we realized we were in a rat race, and life was passing us by.”
As they thought further about it, they realized they hadn’t spent much time with their kids and thus wanted to do something to change their lifestyle.
Being stuck at home during the Covid lockdowns, they knew it was time to transform their lives.
“Some people decided to buy a dog during Covid, but we decided to move to a different country,” Mr. Murphy, a trained hypnotherapist, said. “We kind of made the decision to move in August 2020, and we came over in the Covid break in travel.”
Having fallen in love with France during past holidays, they decided they wanted to move there.
“Wanting to learn a language, the food, and the weather—we never considered anywhere else,” Mr. Murphy said.
The couple sold their three-bedroom home in Manchester for 400,000 pounds (approx. $488,400) and used the cash to buy six 400-year-old houses, two barns, and three acres of land.
“It’s really like winning the lottery without realizing it,” Ms. Murphy said.
Ms. Murphy’s mother and stepfather also decided to join them.
The couple, who both worked in radio, spent 300,000 pounds (approx. $366,400) transforming the ruined buildings into homes for their family and a potentially thriving holiday let business.
Their hamlet includes two 10- by 15-meter (approx. 32- by 49-foot) swimming pools that they’ve renovated with the help of local builders and tradesmen.
Mr. and Ms. Murphy moved into the main house with their two children, Tom, 12, and Charlotte, 8, in late 2022.
In the house opposite theirs, Ms. Murphy’s mom, Helen Diaper, 73, and stepdad, Terry, 72, live.
The remaining four houses and two barns in the hamlet have been turned into holiday homes, which they plan to rent out for hundreds of pounds a week.
The family says they now live “like millionaires” and have no plans to return to the UK despite not speaking much French. However, they’ve been making attempts at learning the language by communicating regularly.
“When we came here, we could only say hello, goodbye and can I have a beer,“ Mr. Murphy said. ”The French love it if you try. Thank God for Google Translate. “
As well as having access to open spaces and immersing themselves in the culture, the family is now surrounded by abundant wildlife.
“We have to stop for deer and wild boars while you’re doing the school run, not other cars,” Mr. Murphy said.
When they first got to France, Ms. Murphy admitted that it was weird to live across from her parents, however, they have now become really close to their family.
Additionally, they were also really scared.
“When we first got there we had flooding, issues with our septic tank, and no electricity,” Ms. Murphy said. “When we first arrived we didn’t have anywhere to stay. We renovated Mom and Terry’s house, so we moved into a caravan.
“It was not glamourous at all. We had that for four or five months.”
For the kids too, the whole move was an adventure, as they “hated school” and thought it was really difficult.
But since then, things have changed and the family has seemed to settle down. Given a choice, none of them would want to go back to their previous lifestyle.
The couple took advantage of cheaper land and property prices in France to realize their dream.
“France and Great Britain have almost identical population size but France is twice as big, so land isn’t as much of a premium,” Mr. Murphy said.
The family has gone from having a set wage every month to having a new business.
“We felt like we’ve earned the living,” Mr. Murphy said.
