This British couple couldn’t break into the UK property ladder and were living in a converted ex-horsebox, but had the opportunity to purchase an entire French village for only €14,000 (£11,727).
Landscape gardeners Paul Mappley and Yip Ward couldn’t get on the property ladder in Tunbridge Wells, UK, describing how they have ‘never owned so much as a studio flat’. In April 2021, after a friend offered to sell them a cottage, they realised the potential in La Busliere and decided to purchase the adjacent buildings.
Paul and Yip couldn’t believe their luck when the price came in at €14,000, sealing the deal for less than the deposit on a house in the UK, thus purchasing the historic hamlet of La Busliere, France, with ambitious plans to create a luxurious holiday destination.
Paul and Yip were living in a converted horse box when they appeared on Channel 4’s Help! We Bought a Village and now owned six cottages, two barns and a paddock, plus a two-storey workshop, cider press and communal bread oven.
However, they were left with a huge task on their hands, because there was no electricity, and the cubbyhole for the stopcock was home to a snake and a salamander. Paul and Yip weren’t bothered because when they first arrived at La Bousliere they had been living in a converted horsebox and said that ‘anywhere felt like luxury after that’.
‘Something like this has so much history. It’s an amazing, amazing feeling. We’re very lucky.’
Paul mappley
When they uncovered an oak-framed barn with an antique apple press, a working well and a stone-built bakery with a domed oven, the pair said: “It’s the first day of the rest of our lives.”
Now planning to turn the village into cottage lets and add a glamping site, the couple have a lot of work on their hands and said that they would be ‘living camping-style’ whilst ‘bringing life back to their village.’
Five buildings in the village were completely engulfed by thick vegetation, and after 45 minutes of clearing the way they found a stone barn, which Yip described as ‘Miss Havisham’s house’.
Carving a path to the other properties was so difficult that their hedge cutter broke down, and were overwhelmed at what they uncovered: three buildings and a well of water, which they hope to use for flushing toilets.
The most exciting find in the episode was the hamlet’s old bakery and Paul in particular was impressed with its history. It would have been a communal space for many families before the French Revolution and so the baker had to be available both day and night.
‘I love all the history that goes in with it as well again, you know, how many loaves of bread have been cooked in that for the village over the years, it’s just amazing,’ said Paul.
It may be a long time before Paul and Yip can turn the Hamlet into a business, and admitted their home was like a ‘squat’ when they first moved in. But for now, it’s a dream come true.
Speaking to The Sun, Yip said, ‘In the area we were living before 2021 it was about £300,000 to buy a tiny place to live, and that was just never on the table for us.’
‘It has been stressful at times, and we are short of money, but coming from only ever renting, we are so grateful to be here.’
