The British doctor who’s swapped intensive care for a fairytale chateau
Fantasise about chucking it all in for a dream home in France? Prepare to be green with envy
As the summer holidays gradually draw to a close, it is the dream that millions of us will have had as we unwound by a poolside or beach: why not chuck it all in, buy that dream home in France and start all over again?
For Edinburgh doctor Erin Choa, however, that dream is now already under way. Just two weeks ago, she swapped life in a scottish intensive care ward for a fairytale castle in western France and is now the chatelaine of the vast Chateau de Bourneau in the rolling countryside of the Vendée.
Like anyone taking on a somewhat neglected property in a strange land will know, the path to that expat idyll is never an entirely smooth one. Erin and her fiance, Jean-Baptiste Gois, both 31, are currently working 16-hour days as they renovate their vast new home, along with its four farmhouses, its barns and its 40-acre estate (including moat).
Yet things seem to have got off to a good start in their quest to create a thriving venue for weddings and holiday lettings. The couple plan to hold their own wedding there next year.
They have just had a nice write-up in the local paper and have been welcomed by people in the neighbourhood. They have also had their first paying guests staying in some of the farmhouses and all seemed to be very happy with what they found. Now, it’s a case of doing essential maintenance work before winter comes and then planning can begin in earnest.
Erin has already discovered an aptitude for plumbing. ‘ It’s rather like doing anatomy,’ says the doctor-turned-stately homeowner who grew up in London. ‘The pump is the heart and then the pipes are the veins.’
Fortunately, Jean-Baptiste happens to be a fully-qualified mechanical engineer, too. The couple met when they were both studying in Edinburgh and went to build their careers there.
But, over time, the lure of escaping to a new life in France grew stronger.
Earlier this year, they were driving through the Vendée region when they came across the Chateau de Bourneau and discovered it was for sale.
‘The Renaissance style, the doves, the countryside: I just knew it was what I was looking for,’ says Erin.
‘It’s the classic dream,’ says Jean-Baptiste, who grew up in France’s Burgundy region. ‘But we didn’t set out to buy a chateau. It is actually much bigger than what we had in mind.’
When I ask him how many bedrooms are in the main house, he laughs and admits that he is not entirely sure, before he hazards a guess. ‘Maybe 20!’
The couple admit that it has been a ‘risky’ investment and are keeping the purchase price under wraps.
There are similar-sized properties in the same part of France on the market for around £500,000 — a substantial sum by local standards, but barely enough to acquire a modest family home in many
places on the other side of the Channel. Yet Erin and Jean-Baptiste appear to have chosen wisely.
The chateau is every inch the classic French stately home and is modelled on the Château d’Azay-le- Rideau, among the most celebrated of all the grand piles in the Loire Valley.
Yet, while the original was built in the 16th century, the Chateau de Bourneau was only built in the 1860s for a wealthy family who wanted a replica.
In other words, its foundations, rafters and roof are Victorian, rather than medieval, and, hence, in much better condition.
Similarly, the estate farmhouses are in pretty good shape and proved ready for immediate letting.
During the Eighties, the chateau was used as a nursing home and, as a result, had to undergo substantial renovations at the time. ‘It has its problems, like any house of this size but, by the standards of a chateau, it’s in good condition,’ says Jean-Baptiste.
Erin has already attracted a keen online following from expats and property renovation enthusiasts as she comes to terms with running a house the size of a palace.
Writing under the nom de plume The Intrepid Chatelaine, her website includes shots of the bewildering range of keys she has inherited, along with some of the dusty books she has uncovered in the library.
Meanwhile Jean- Baptiste has been busy clearing out the old attics, but can swiftly double up as a butler when guests require smartly-dressed table service.
Just an hour from La Rochelle and Poitiers, the chateau is well-placed for British holidaymakers flocking to Atlantic resorts such as the Ile de Re and it is also within easy reach for weekending Parisians.
Erin has certainly not turned her back on her medical career and is keen to continue.
Unlike Britain, however, France imposes strict linguistic demands on anyone seeking to work in the medical sector and Erin is aiming to get her French up to the required standard that will allow her to return to a hospital ward.
In the meantime, she could always think about turning this great escapist expat adventure into a book.
A runaway advertising executive called Peter Mayle did the same when he moved to the South of France in the Eighties. A Year In Provence made him one of the best-selling authors of his generation.