Kiwi Anna Bibby tackles a major farmhouse renovation in France despite not knowing the language.

A former Kiwi art dealer fixes up not one but two tumbledown French properties... despite not speaking the language

You have to wonder what goes through the mind of a woman like Anna Bibby. At age 54, she sells her successful Auckland art gallery and heads to France, despite not knowing a soul or speaking a word of French. Once there, she remembers she never did have a gift for languages, being dyslexic. But she is practical and hardworking, so undaunted she buys a rundown house in the medieval village of Martel and embarks on the renovation herself, scaling wobbly scaffolding to paint the interior while artisans deal to antediluvian electrics and plumbing. Then, in remarkably short order, she establishes a lively social life while running the très tasteful makeover as a chambres d’hôte (bed and breakfast).

Eight years later she sells it, not because she is cashing up or coming home but because she has bought an ensemble of dilapidated farm buildings 25km from Bergerac in the Bordeaux wine region. She still can barely make herself understood and doesn’t know anyone there.

Also, and let’s not sugar-coat this, she is eight years older than when she first set out on this do-up French lark. This project will require even more work and a big financial outlay because if you’re going to run two gîtes (holiday rentals), in

France, you really do need a decent swimming pool. Anna admits that she is a project-driven person and thought that this 4000sqm, three-building property would occupy her for a good while.

Fortunately, buying property in France with or without the lingo isn’t difficult, she says. Most French real estate agents speak English.

When it comes to tradies, “I draw pictures.” She’s not intimidated by building work and says that in her experience, the best solution is usually the simplest one.

Anna doesn’t have the same anxiety Kiwis do about getting a builder’s report. “If the building has been around since 1670, I figure it’s probably pretty solid.” As for budget, you have to make do with what you’ve got, she says.

A clairvoyant friend in New Zealand had already issued a warning. “I see a lot of water,” she said ominously. She wasn’t wrong. The old pool leaked and resulted in the season’s holiday bookings being cancelled. So did the refurbished barn roof, while the badly installed plumbing in the cottage caused a ceiling of plasterboard and insulation to collapse in the middle of the night, showering Anna with water and dumping debris on poodle Harry’s bed. “Harry took a direct hit. I laboured for hours dragging the debris into the garden and when l finally reached Harry’s bed I was astonished and relieved to find

that despite his age he’d made a mad dash into the tiny laundry.”

In the two years Anna has owned the property, she’s fixed up the barn, which is now her house, as well as the 1670s-era workers’ cottage, transformed the above-ground wine store into a two-bedroom cottage and installed a new pool.

Lockdown saw her stuck in New Zealand after what was meant to be a short visit to see family. Arriving back in France in mid-May, Anna feared the holiday rental market might have taken fright. Not so – she is fully occupied catering to city folk from Northern Europe, England and France, desperate for a break in the countryside.

Clearly this woman is plagued by a strong perverse streak. Is this why she chose to live in France despite her linguistic challenges and candid admission that she is not even a Francophile? “When I was young everyone did their OE and lived overseas for a while. I never did, so this is my aged OE. Also I find it fascinating watching a different culture. I really enjoy getting to know French people and the region is very beautiful.”

That’s all very well but who embarks on a second major renovation at the age of 63, on her own, in a foreign country? Over the years, Anna says she’s had cause to question whether she is courageous or stupid. “I’ve come to the conclusion that there’s very little difference.“

It helps that she consciously forges ahead without looking backwards. She has no truck with regret. “You can’t think like that if you’re going to do something like this.” And she doesn’t.

THIS PAGE New Zealander Anna Bibby has no idea what kind of green grapes flourish along the warm sunny barn wall of her Bergerac farmhouse near the medieval village of Eymet, but that doesn't stop them being excellent eating. OPPOSITE The back of Anna’s 1670 farmhouse as viewed from the road; it’s one of three farm buildings she renovated on the property.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from above) Each of the three farm buildings has its own courtyard; the gardens, including the tawny Japanese maple, date from planting done 20 years ago by previous owners, a couple from England; Anna plans to work on the garden next, even though she confesses she doesn’t have a green thumb; she figures that gardening is better exercise than going to a gym. Anna sits on a stone wall with her beloved Harry, a dog she describes as a superior canine in every way. In summer when the temperature soars guests find the pool a welcome place to cool off after spending the morning exploring nearby medieval villages.

THESE PAGES (clockwise from top left) Anna loves buying local and has found many of her vintage pieces at brocante (bric-a-brac) markets in the region; the cream vase is by Ross Mitchell-Anyon, the other vase is a French peasant pottery vase and the bowl is Persian. Local ceramics line the mantelpiece of the large fireplace in the peasants’ cottage. The kitchen and dining room of the workers’ cottage features chairs bought at Briscoes and shipped over, and an old table found at a troc, a shop selling second-hand furniture and ceramics.

LEFT The second floor bedroom in the workers’ cottage features visible bricks on the chimney; the French dropside table concertinas into a half-circle. RIGHT The windows in this bedroom open on to another courtyard.

THESE PAGES The building at the rear belongs to Anna’s neighbour but was formerly the farmhouse on this property before it was subdivided off and sold.