We are Henk, Maarten and Bali.
In 2022, we began our search for a house in France. In May of that same year, we travelled through France in a campervan. During this time, we viewed a number of properties in various regions of France. We very quickly fell in love with the house we now live in. The house is situated in the Combrailles region and forms part of the Puy-de-Dôme department. After contacting the estate agent, the house was sold to someone else almost immediately after our viewing. Unfortunately for us, the sale had already been finalised and we were unable to intervene.
In the summer of 2022, we went back to France to view properties in the Combrailles. That summer, we had a viewing with the same estate agent as before. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a suitable property for us at that time.
We’d actually given up on the search for this year, but on 3 September we received an email from the estate agent saying the house was back on the market. Two weeks later, we were in the car heading for the Combrailles to see if the house was still as we remembered it.
Before we knew it, it was 22 December and we were handed the keys!
So, in the end, it all happened very quickly. Henk and Bali headed to France in February 2023 to sort out the initial arrangements, such as reconnecting the electricity and water. The first demolition work also took place at that time. Finally, in April, we took our remaining belongings to the Combrailles and officially moved in.
We are currently busy renovating the house. One apartment is now ready. It can accommodate up to five people. This apartment has its own entrance and is not connected to the rest of the house. Ultimately, we plan to create three more guest rooms in the house.
We also have a vegetable garden where we grow our own fruit and vegetables.
Our house is located just outside the village of Combrailles in the Puy-de-Dôme department. We are just 20 minutes’ drive from the A89 motorway. This makes us an ideal choice for people travelling through on their way to Spain, for example.
There’s plenty to do in the local area too; please see the ‘Our Local Area’ page for In the area.