‘We sold our three-bed semi in Manchester and bought an entire French village’

A family living in ‘the rat race’ sold their three-bedroom house for £400,000 before buying an entire French village.

Liz and David Murphy purchased Luc De Maison, a historic rural hamlet in the Poitou-Charentes region of South West France, in January 2021.

The price of their three-bed house in Manchester meant the couple had enough money to buy six 400 year old houses, two barns and three hectares of land in France.

Their hamlet also includes two 10m x 15m swimming pools which they have renovated with the help of local builders and tradesmen.

The couple, who both worked in radio, spent £300,000 to convert the ruined buildings into homes for their family and a potentially thriving holiday rental business.

They moved into the main house late last year with their two children Tom, 12, and Charlotte, eight.

Liz’s mother, Helen Diaper, 73, and stepfather Terry, 72, live in the house opposite.

The remaining four houses and two barns in the hamlet have been converted into holiday homes which they are willing to rent out for hundreds of pounds a week.

The family say they now live ‘like millionaires’ and have no plans to return to the UK, despite not speaking French.

Ms Murphy, 45, said: ‘We both worked 9-5 jobs in England, had busy lives and the kids were in after-school clubs and it was like we were on an endless treadmill.

“It wasn’t until Covid came and we were on leave and we realized we were in a rat race and life was passing us by.

“We realized we hadn’t been spending much time with the kids and we decided we had to do something to change our whole lives.

“We had been talking about moving to France for years. We had the sudden feeling to do it and suddenly we did it.

“My mother and stepfather decided to sell their house and come with us. We had no idea when we came, neither of us had done any physical work.

‘We had both taken French at school, but hadn’t for years. The only way was to immerse yourself here.

“We’re in a conversation right now, we’re picking up on things while chatting. We bought the buildings and land for about £400.00.

‘We have six houses and another large barn converted into a games room and workshop, with three acres of land and a ruin.

“It’s like winning the lottery without realizing it.”

The couple decided to uproot their lives and move to France after being stuck at home during the Covid lockdowns.

Liz’s husband Dave, 54, who is a trained hypnotherapist, said: ‘Some people decided to buy a dog during Covid, but we decided to move to another country.

‘We were amazed at what we could get for our house price in Manchester, we could get a hamlet.

‘We kind of made the decision to move in August 2020 and we came over during the Covid travel break.

‘It went very quickly. If we had thought about it too much and just said yes.

‘I think we both loved France. We fell in love with it and came here on vacation.

‘Wanting to learn a language, the food and the weather – we never thought of anything else.

‘When we came here all we could say was hello, goodbye and can I have a beer.

‘The French love it when you try. Thank God for Google Translate. But it has reached the stage where we learn from conversations.

We live like millionaires here. You have to be in the UK to own this. It takes two and a half hours to mow the lawn with a ride-on mower.

‘In Manchester I could do the lawn in ten minutes. We also have two swimming pools.

“The wildlife is crazy around us too. We must stop for deer and boar while you do the school run, not for other cars.’

Liz added, “When we first got there, it felt really weird to be in front of my parents. Still, it is very nice to be so close to them.

“We were really scared about the move and getting enough exercise. For the first four months, the children hated school and we thought this was difficult.

“Now I don’t think any of us would go back.

‘Everyone is so welcoming, I wouldn’t want to go back for anything.

‘When we got there we had flooding, problems with our septic tank and no electricity. Now we have everything working properly.

‘When we arrived, we had no place to stay. We renovated Mum and Terry’s house, so we moved into a caravan.

“It wasn’t glamorous at all. We had that for four or five months. We have moved into a house.

‘For the children it was a great adventure, for us it was hell.’

The couple also took advantage of cheaper land and real estate prices in France to achieve their dream.

Dave added: ‘France and Britain have almost the same population size, but France is twice the size, so land is not such a big bounty.

‘I think young people are drawn to the bright sights of the cities. We had moved from a fixed wage per month to a new company for us.

‘You can come here and be here without worrying about the language barrier. We felt we had earned our living.’

The family’s remarkable story was recently featured on Channel Four’s Help! We bought a village.