“After a lot of skiing in the Alps we knew that area well, but looked at the Pyrenees and found the prices incredibly low”
Rick Ellis doesn’t like doing things by halves. It was during one of those now-infamous Covid lockdown moments when his wife Raine said “why don’t we live in Europe?”.
The couple from Weston-Super-Mare in Somerset started researching online and in March 2022 they bought a five-bedroom house with a butchers shop - and then another little house in the next village in the Midi-Pyrenees.
“After a lot of skiing in the Alps we knew that area well, but looked at the Pyrenees and found the prices incredibly low,” says Rick, 64.
They were surprised they could buy a five-bedroom house (with the shop) in Maurignac for less than half the price of the renovated two-bedroom property with a balcony overlooking the Garonne river in the nearby village of St Beat – on sale at €159,000 (through Leggett Immobilier).
Whilst renovating the ‘main house’ for themselves into a four-bedroom property the couple are renting out the riverside property on AirBnB.
Located in the Haute-Garonne department of the Midi-Pyrenees, on the border of the Val d’Aran in Spain – the village is famous for its marble and has a sculpture festival each year. It’s surrounded by spa towns, mountains and lakes. Mourtis, 15 mins up the mountain is the nearest small ski resort, or it’s 30 mins to the bigger Bagnères de Luchon.
The renovation of the 1970s house in Maurignac is ongoing. “I demolished the rear rooms added on to the back of the house including a massive walk-in freezer. It’s been tough, hard work, the French really know how to build concrete walls!” says Rick.
“We are having a covered outside eating area and a pool at the far end of this terrace. I did try to get some French tradesmen in to help me but after several no-shows I decided to do the whole thing myself. From IT engineer I have become builder, plumber, electrician, plasterer, drywaller and glazier".
“I have appalling schoolboy French but I’m having to learn Trade French too. The nice lady at the local builders merchants holds her head in her hands when I walk in…we have a laugh.”
He says they are enjoying bringing an unloved house back to life. “And in between the dust and the sweat at lunchtime I sit in my lovely sunny, warm garden, surrounded by the stunning Pyrenees, breathing the clean mountain air, open another bottle of splendid €3 wine and feel just a tiny bit smug.”
The area is popular with those who, like Rick and Raine, love outdoor activities, says Yvonne of their estate agent, Leggett. “You have it all here – fishing, golf, horse-riding, rafting, lake-swimming, cycling from Tour de France climbs through to long flat routes next to the Garonne River. Walkers and hikers love this region.”
Rick and Raine also walk in the mountains, swim in the lakes and ski in winter.
“I feel I’m in the Monty Python sketch, who’d have thought 30 years ago I’d be sitting here drinking Chateau de Marignac", says the Yorkshireman.
“Our one regret is that we didn’t do it 10 years earlier!”
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