Annemiek & François(45)

It started with a ruin on Leboncoin.fr — the French equivalent of Craigslist. A crumbling mas (Provençal farmhouse) in the Ardèche for €45,000. François, my husband, grew up in Lyon and knew the Ardèche from summer camps. For me it was love at first sight: the chestnut forests, the river gorges, the silence. We bought it within a month. The notaire warned us: "C'est une ruine, hein." We said: "That's the point."

A renovation in France is a legal and administrative marathon. You need a permis de construire from the mairie if you change the structure or appearance. The dossier includes drawings, a description des travaux and a plan de masse. Processing time is two to three months. You also need to consult an architecte des Bâtiments de France if the property is in a zone protégée — in our case it was, because the village has patrimoine historique status.

François did a lot himself — he's an engineer and handy — but for the roof and foundations we hired a maçon (mason) and a charpentier (carpenter). The cost: €120,000 for the full renovation, including new roof, plumbing, electrics (to NF C 15-100 standards), insulation and a new kitchen. We partly financed with an éco-prêt à taux zéro — an interest-free loan for energy renovation, available through banks.

The Ardèche is one of the least populated departments in France — 330,000 inhabitants in an area larger than Brabant. That means: peace, nature and space, but also limited amenities. The nearest supermarché is 20 minutes by car, the hospital 45 minutes. We've become self-sufficient: vegetable garden, chickens, wood for the poêle à bois (wood stove). Internet — essential for François' remote consulting work — was a challenge: we had satellite internet installed via Starlink.

The cost of living in the Ardèche is dirt cheap. The taxe foncière is €320 per year. Groceries at the marché in Aubenas cost half what they do in Den Bosch. A litre of vin du pays costs €3. Our monthly fixed costs — water, electricity, internet, insurance — are €450. With François' consultancy income as an auto-entrepreneur (revenue about €4,000/month, 21.1% social charges) and my part-time translation work, we live very comfortably.

The renovation took two years and was the hardest but most beautiful experience of our lives. Every stone we laid, every wall we built, made it more ours. Now we sit on our terrace in the evening overlooking the chestnut forests, a glass of Viognier in hand and the stars above — no light pollution here. We don't miss Den Bosch. This is our home, built stone by stone.