MillingTRAVEL AROUND
The former owners of Harvey’s Point have opened a magnificant farmhouse in south-west France
DEIRDRE McGlone and husband Marc Gysling made the multiaward-winning Harvey’s Point in Donegal one of the most popular and successful hotels in Ireland, winning Tripadvisor’s Travellers Choice Award for Best Hotel for seven consecutive years as well as picking up AA Hotel of the Year and Georgina Campbell Hotel of the Year awards.
They completely transformed and expanded their beautiful lakeside establishment on Lough Eske from what began as a small guesthouse. Then in 2019, after three decades, they made the momentous decision to sell up for a quieter life with their three children — and to spend more time in the sun.
The couple have now opened a magnificent old mill and farmhouse in southwest France which is available to rent.
They made so many friends in Harvey’s Point that Le Moulin sur Célé — the Mill on the Célé, the name of the river which runs through their land — is already almost fully booked for this year and they are already filling slots for 2025.
It’s a family affair with their three children — Carl, 21, James, 20, and 18-year-old Christina — helping out when they are home from college.
Ironically, Deirdre and Marc never intended going back into the hospitality business but fate played a hand.
They were looking for a sunny bolthole in a winemaking region of France when photos of Le Moulin, in SaintSulpice in the Lot department in the Occitanie region, kept appearing on their internet feed.
‘It was a wet St Valentine’s Day 2020 and pictures on a property website kept popping up and it was so photogenic,’ says Swiss-born Marc, 59, the former chef at Harvey’s Point. ‘You see the video and you go, wow! Straight away it grabbed us and it was for sale.’
MARC did an internet search and discovered it was being used as a rental property. ‘I thought, what a great idea,’ he says. ‘We were thinking of just buying a house but then I put on my business hat and thought rather than just spending money why not get somewhere where there would be money coming in.’
They rang the English owner to see if they could rent it that April to check it out but he said it was closed, so they asked if they could fly over and see it.
The couple travelled over with Marc’s late brother Jody, a visionary hotelier who first launched Harvey’s Point as a small guesthouse.
‘Jody was my older brother and was like a father to me and I wanted his approval,’ says Marc.
The three arrived in France on a miserable wet day and saw the property needed a lot of work but they were all in agreement. ‘For the price we couldn’t go wrong,’ says Marc.
He has spent the last three years overseeing the renovation of the main miller’s house and a beautiful threestorey tower house as well as relining the 12m swimming pool. Future plans include restoring the old mill itself and they have just planted a new vineyard.
Since buying the 15-acre estate, an hour and 45 minutes’ drive north of Toulouse, Marc and Deirdre have snapped up adjacent land and are now turning an old cottage and tobacco warehouse into two more rental properties as well as finishing off a home for themselves when they rent out the main house. Le Moulin can accommodate ten people in three lovely period double rooms and two twin rooms, ideal for families or groups of friends. There are five ensuite bathrooms. The new houses, when finished later this year, can be booked separately.
Guests can swim in the river or the pool, go canoeing, or just enjoy the shade on the riverbank on deck chairs or hammocks. There’s a tennis court, a croquet lawn and the region’s quiet roads are ideal for cycling.
The pretty village of St Sulpice is famous for its houses built into rock and for being on the French Camino pilgrimage trail.
The whole area is inside the Causses du Quercy Regional Natural Park, a wonderland of spectacular limestone cliffs and canyons with 153 hiking trails. It was designated a Unesco Global Geopark in 2017.
The nearby villages of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Rocamadour are listed as among the most beautiful in France, and nearly all the local towns have markets on different days where you can sample the wines and gastronomy of the region.
The Gysling family love their new home and take great pride in sharing it with visitors.
Their only regret is that Jody, who died in 2021, never got to see it completed.
‘We absolutely love living here,’ says Deirdre, 58. ‘Marc’s dream was always to live where the vines grow. There is a slower pace of life here and people appreciate the simple things like food, wine and the culture.
‘It’s a laidback lifestyle and we love sharing it with other people.’
New ventures: Clockwise from main, Le Moulin Sur Cele; Jim (in yellow) on the terrace with the family; The plush decor; and Deirdre and Marc