For ten years, I edited a magazine for young women called Company. I won awards for doing so. Now I work at Good Housekeeping as Digital Director. I love my job and and media loveliness that comes with it. But in my spare time what I like to do is renovate property. Along with my DIY obsessed husband Peter we like to decorate, replumb, rewire, smash down walls and build them back again (he does most of the hard work, I choose the colours!) Our biggest, craziest, property project was buying a house in France. This is the story of that house and our relationship with it over the last three years.
My two sons Arthur and Sebastian think all parents spend holidays caulking ceilings and stripping walls. You can rent our home via air bnb here
we bought a french house 
Hi Vica,
Thank you for having this blog. It is absolutely entertaining! I discovered you when I was googling Gensac for a potential housesit coming up for me, and I was delighted to know that the life there is my ideal setting.
I just wanted to introduce myself a bit and let you know that I am a writer as well. I am looking for more opportunities to housesit, so that my time in France can be extended for as long as possible while I scour the country for bucolic relics and side winding episodes that will become the inspiration for my story ideas. If you are ever in need of a house minder and garden caretaker, please feel free to communicate with me. I am a novice DIYer myself, and I do little repairs here and there on my housesit adventures. I absolutely love that part of my experiences in other people’s homes.
It was nice reading about you and your family. Your children are darling, your home is magnificent, and the journey of getting it fixed up to this point is one I envy. Get in touch with me. I’ll be in the neighborhood!
Sincerely,
Bel
Hi Bel – gensac is a tiny place! You can’t miss us. Don’t need house sitters as we there so often and have people there in between but do pop by and say hi. Victoria x
Hi Vica – Yes I will! Thank you. I have secured a house sit in that area for later in the year, so I look forward to saying a hey-ho! It’s too bad about not needing a house sitter, but am glad you have a network of people to depend on.
Have a great rest of the week!
Bel
Bel I think it’s a different gensac. Ours is in haute pyrennees there are lots of little gensac and there is no house sit I know of in ours x
Vica you’re right! I’m sorry. I just plugged in a more detailed phrase in google, so instead of just gensac france I plugged in gensac gironde france and the two are different. Do apologize for the mix up. Still I enjoy reading your blog and following along with the progress of your lovely home, so I will continue to do so.
Have you ever thought of getting a dog or turtle to be a new addition to the land? I don’t know why I thought of that….but there it is 🙂
I will go now and google haute pyrenees just to have another reference about France. I can’t believe I will be a world traveler soon!
Wish you a great weekend!
Bel
Being brought up by parents who think that they were French in a past life, although manage to sound more like a Brummie than a French man when attempting to speak French, I have a huge soft spot for France. You are living my dream and I can’t wait to hear all about your adventures. Good luck! Lou
Thanks Lou – hope you enjoy my future posts too x
What a lovely idea for a blog. I really like watching people doing up old houses so will be watching along the way.
Ok I’m ridiculously jealous! Thanks for following me and now I’ll be following you. If I can’t BE you, I’ll live in France vicariously through you!
Hahaha we’ll hope you enjoy my posts and you’re not tooooo jealous xx
Your blog is beautiful and entertaining! Thank you for sharing your adventures with us! Keep up the great work. Cheers!
Thank you so pleased you’re enjoying x
Hello Vica!
We met your sweet family about mid-August on our way to Bareges, France, my mothers home town. We were told by the lady a door or two down from yours that the house was once owned by the family Mouledous and that there were 18 children… And one wife!!! My maiden name is Mouledous; my great-great grandfather was born in Tournous-Darre, not too far from Gensac. I was SO thrilled to see the house and your family was very accommodating for a curios American and her French-American mother! If you know anything else about the family that lived there before, I’d love to know more! Peter told us, but I should have written it down! Anyway… Love this blog! Even though I haven’t yet made the connection between the family from Gensac and the family from Tournous-Darre… I’m sure there is one… Eventually! LOL!
Hello Laurie – I heard about your visit! We don’t know much more about the family other than several Mouledous live in the area including Francoise who lives in Gensac and has a lovely daughter who lives not far from us in London! Then there is Frank who ran a cafe in Maubourguet and Dr Mouledous who my kids are always visiting with ear infections! Hope you had a good holiday. Xxx
I adore your style! Beautiful home, and such DIY inspiration.
Hi vica, how are you. My name is Edgar Sarmiento, I live in Colombia right now. My grand grand father was called Jean Mouledous and He had 4 sons, one of them was Joseph Mouledous that came here to Colombia, but some years later returned to France. His brother had a family here. Joseph had 18 sons with Bathilde Desplantez and lived in this house. It would be so good if you send to me some photos of this house that was of my family. Now I dont have a direct contact with the family that lives in the south of France. You can visit my family pages:
Joseph Mouledous family
http://gw.geneanet.org/edgarkhan?lang=es;pz=edgar+andres;nz=sarmiento+garcia;ocz=0;p=joseph;n=mouledous
Tebake
http://tebakegenea.blogspot.com/
My e-mail is: edgar_smf@hotmail.com
Saludos.
Edgar Sarmiento
Edgar – what an amazing story! I’m not sure how to send you pics but you can drag them from my site! I’m also on pinterest. Great to hear from you
Totally in love with this blog, thanks for writing it. Am considering buying a place in SW france (off for a reccy soon) and love the deco inspiration here… and yes my first question had been “how much Farrow and Ball can I carry to France?” One question: when it comes to doing cosmetic work (eg: on the downstairs bathroom before and after) did you and your husband do this or get people in to do things like tiling?)
Hi Marianne – it’s a lovely part of France and still quite affordable. We do all the work ourselves. Husband does plumbing etc I do painting. We had someone to do electrics and a man to fix the roof but all rest we’ve done ourselves. Good luck xxx
Pingback: Five Random Things About Me | Eugénie Street
Hello! I refer to your blog in my latest post, with a little « portrait challenge » for some of my favorite blog authors. No obligation of course 🙂
http://eugeniestreet.wordpress.com/2014/11/03/five-random-things-about-me/
Dear Victoria, your blog is a nice source of inspiration for us, thanks for taking the time to do it. We live a stone’s throw from you, in Vic en Bigorre in the old neighbourhood behind the marketplace. We are renovating an 18th century maison de maitre which will eventually be an event space and b&b. We’ve been here with our two kids since August 2013, and I work in London about 2 weeks a month (thank you, Ryanair, for the commuting possibilities). It would be great to meet one day if you are over here for the market, or we can pass by Gensac when you are around. Our number is 05 62 55 22 91. All the best, Darcie & Jeff
Hello Darcie – sorry it has taken me so long to respond – I only just saw this! We must have crossed paths I’m sure as we go to Vic en Bigorre market most Saturdays we are in France! I will definitely give you a call next time we are over – probably October half term. And I shall email you too so you have my email. Would love to meet up. Victoria x
That sounds great Victoria, look forward to meeting you! I will definitely be there the last week of October – we might even have a proper American Halloween haunted house before the workmen remove our precious cobwebs….
Hello,
I came across your blog while looking for French property renovation stories for French Property News magazine, and I’d be interested in finding out more about your experiences if this is of interest to you?
Kind regards,
Vicky Leigh
Deputy Editor, French Property News
Hi Vicky – would love to chat about this. My email is Victoria.white@hearst.co.uk
Best
Victoria