Running a Gite in Brittany

Caroline Haycox, 38, and her husband, Ian, 41, moved to Brittany in September 2002 with their two children, Elizabeth, six and Hugh, four. Their intention was to buy and run a gite complex. Caroline Says:

We were both IT consultants based in Hampshire, but I felt I was being pulled between work and home. The turning point came when we went on holiday to a gite complex in Brittany in May 2002. The couple running it had a young daughter. They were our inspiration.

We decided to move to France and rent until we found a house to buy. A few months later we found this one, which met all our requirements. We wanted it to be habitable because of the children, to have the potential for five gites (two or three had to be ready for rental immediately, see www.brittany-holiday-gites.com), to have a courtyard and four acres of land to make it a child's paradise - if the children are happy on holiday, the parents will be too. So when we saw this, it was like a dream come true, and we put an offer in straight away.
The house dates from 1870, and the previous owners had made the downstairs into one beautiful huge room with exposed stone walls that we use as our living room. My kitchen's on the middle floor with an office and playroom, whil upstairs are three very large bedrooms.

Our budget for the house was £250,000, including the cost of renovation - on which we've spent £30,000 so far. At the moment, we don't make enough to live on although we've downsized significantly in terms of lifestyle. We were warned we shouldn't bank on more than ten weeks a year in bookings, so, to live and run the company, pay taxes, pensions etc, we need those five gites. Now we're living partly off savings, but we're not too worried because we are confident we'll get there.

It's been quite hard learning to live and work together, but we've split the running of the gites. Ian looks after general maintenance while I do the changeovers, the linen and cleaning. What I really love is doing the garden.

Our children have settled in at the local school and, although I do miss friends still, I always console myself with the thought that everything here is far better than sitting in front of a computer.