A FAMILY living in France sold their three-bed house in Manchester to buy an entire village in France.

Four years ago, Liz and David Murphy purchased a rural hamlet of Lac De Maison, in Poitou-Charentes, south-west France in a bid to escape the rat race.

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Along with Liz’s mum, Helen Diaper, and her stepdad, Terry, the couple bought six 400-year-old houses, two barns, and three acres of land for £400,000 after selling their three-bed house.

Since leaving Manchester in 2021, Liz and David have renovated their own home in France as well as a house for Liz’s parents.

The couple settled on France after visiting for holidays and wanting to be “somewhere close enough for people to visit and it not cost a fortune”.

After coming across the huge plot of land in December 2020, Liz and David sold their three-bed home and moved to France with their two children, Tom and Charlotte.

They’ve also opened three holiday homes, capable of sleeping 19 people, on their three-acre plot of land.

And with the holiday homes routinely booked out during the summer months, Liz and David have their sights set on other renovations, such as installing 60 solar panels to make themselves more self-sufficient.

Liz said: “We were thinking of renovating the ruin next to our house that a World War I hero used to live in, but we’ve had really bad wet weather in the past year, and some of the walls collapsed in a landslide.

“[Overall] we spent more than we thought we were going to, but everything we are putting into it is to future proof it for others when they want to come and live here.

“Everything was a bit tired. It was blood sweat and tears but worth it in the end.

“And with properties of this size and age, I don’t think renovations ever finish.”

Even though the couple don’t make as much money as they did in the UK, their quality of life is better.

Mum-of-two Liz said: “Our quality of life is so much better, and we haven’t got the pressures we had in the UK.

“In France, we’re mortgage free. So although we’re making less money than we did in the UK, it’s massively outweighed by our quality of life.”

Life for the couple’s children Tom and Charlotte has also improved.

Liz added: “They’ve been here for four years now – they’re both fluent in French, and I think my daughter especially feels more French than English.”

The family also love having Liz’s parents just a minute away.

Liz said: “It’s lovely to just cross over the driveway to see them. They are so much more involved in kids lives.

“We see each other everyday. We go over for a drink or we have meal at ours or over at there’s. It’s nice to know they are there.”

The changing pace of life in France has brought the family closer together, as Liz felt their hectic lives in Manchester did not leave enough time to spend together.

She said: “It’s a lovely, chilled, relaxing vibe, and it’s brought us all closer together.”

The family have introduced some new members too – having taken on three goats, four chickens and two Shetland ponies.

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Liz said: “We don’t have the ponies anymore, but they live a life of luxury down the road, and instead we’ve inherited three cats, and we’re possibly getting a dog soon.”

Despite the positives, there are some elements of life in the UK that the family miss.

Liz added: “I miss my friends and family, we all do. But other than that, I miss Walkers prawn cocktail crisps and Twinings earl grey tea bags.

“We loved the UK, but we don’t regret moving here and don’t have plans to move back.”

Meanwhile, another UK couple bought a crumbling house in rural France for £30,000 and transformed it into a stunning BnB.

And here are the best and worst things about living in France, according to an expat.

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