Couple swap Kent home for glorious French château, at half the price

A couple who were ‘fed up’ of living in an area with gridlock traffic in Kent moved into a historic French property– and we’re pretty jealous.

Heidi and Anthony Muir’s château is not only tranquil, but also nearly half the price of their former Kent home.

The pair were growing increasingly annoyed with the constant queues of cars blocking the roads near their home every weekend.

They decided to sell their £600,000 four-bedroom semi in the village of Allington, near Maidstone, and swapped it for a £370,000 grand French château set in beautiful surrounding grounds.

The nine-bedroom estate in central France served as a French Resistance headquarters during WW2 and has even been featured three times on Channel 4 show Grand Designs before they bought it.

Heidi, 55, and her 53-year-old husband Anthony have also taken on the running of the bed and breakfast business at the late 19th-century château, called Chez Jallot.

The pair are among a growing number of British expats jumping on the chateau trend and have no regrets about their change in lifestyle.

Heidi said: ‘It was always a bit of a hopeful wish to live in France, and never in a million years did we think we would actually end up living here.

‘We had always lived in Kent; Anthony comes from Walderslade and I came from Stockbury.

‘It was actually my grandmother’s from the late 1930s, so the house was always in our family, but we decided to make the move to France last year.

‘We were looking for a holiday home, really, but decided to broaden our search and started looking at forever homes.

‘We remember watching Chez Jallot on Grand Designs in 2004 and really admired former owners Doug and Deni Ibbs.’

The couple spent 30 years living in Kent before calling it a day.

‘We love Maidstone, we loved our house, we really did like the area and the kids had a great time at school and everything,’ Heidi added.

‘But what made our decision was the developments that were starting around the Allington area – the roads just couldn’t cope.’

She added: ‘The main London Road going into Maidstone was gridlocked most weekends, so this was one of the main factors of why we just wanted to change our lifestyle a little bit.

‘There are thousands of new houses being built in the area – not hundreds but thousands.

‘Roads are already congested and in the coming years the road systems will only get worse.’

With the couple’s three children all being in their 20s and having moved out, they decided now would be a good time to start over.

Their new distinctly French manor house has four large guest rooms, the Muir’s own bedroom, loft space with the potential for another three to four bedrooms, two adjoining gites (aka holiday cottages) with two more bedrooms, as well as a living area and kitchen.

The entire main house, which sleeps 10, can be hired for £395 per person, which includes breakfast and a two-course evening meal with half a bottle of wine per head.

The two pet-friendly, self-accommodating gites are available for a maximum of six people, from £88 per person, and suites in the chateau range in starting prices of between £83 and £132 per person.

There’s a rich history to the property.

The château was originally constructed around the year 1870, after Monsieur Jallot returned to the country from Paris, where he had been part of the reconstruction of the capital under President Napoleon III.

In July 1944, Nazi German troops searched the property and set it ablaze.

The main building was left derelict for more than 70 years before English couple Doug and Deni Ibbs bought the property in 2004 and built it up from the remaining shell of the house.

Now, the current owners are embracing the rebuilt home, even if it does mean missing their children and friends.

‘We also chose France as it’s only an hour-and-a-half flight from here to England so it’s really quick and simple to get back to the UK to see our children,’ Heidi added.

‘But once we stepped foot in this house, we instantly knew it was the house that we wanted.

‘It’s just so peaceful and quiet out here. It’s very well known for walking holidays. It was a life-changing move that we do not regret.

‘If you want a different lifestyle then I would encourage anybody to make the leap.’

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