Are you a handy, greenfingered couple interested in living the French village life? (medium term)

House Sitter Needed for Username: tjkingfisher   

Save

Posted or Updated: Mar 3,2021   Reviews (1)   Applications: 8

Location
North West France, Landivy
Mayenne,Pays De La Loire France

View location map
Availability
Mar 31,2021
For 3-6 months | Long Term

We are looking for a handy, can-do couple who are interested in immersing themselves in French village life while helping us bring our lovely old house back to its former glory.

The 3 story house is surrounded by 3 garden spaces, including a large walled garden with fruit trees and a pond. The top floor of the house comprises a fully renovated 2 bedroom apartment, The first floor needs some painting work done, while the rest of the house is habitable, but a ‘work in progress’. The house has central heating and all modern facilities.

As we are based in the UK, we are currently unable to travel to the house, (which is our holiday home) due to covid restrictions and work commitments. We’re looking for handy house sitters who can keep on top of the garden duties, undertake DIY jobs such as painting & decorating etc. and be present at the house ( if restrictions allow) while we employ builders to continue with larger jobs. In return for your help, we'll cover the cost of utility bills during your stay.

If you're the type of people who would rather be active than sitting around, this could be the place for you!

The house is situated on the edge of a village with good amenities, within a 20 minute drive of St Hilaire Du Harcouet and Fougeres, both large towns with all amenities.  There is one close neighbour and a short walk into the village, where there is a bakery, general store, bank, hairdressers, bar, butchers, library, church, sports hall, pharmacy, vet, garage and a regular small market. The supermarket in the next village offers a 'click & collect' service which is useful during covid restrictions. The house is surrounded by beautiful farmland, has gorgeous views with amazing sunsets and is ideal for keen walkers as it is situated on the route of 2 hiking trails. Once travel is allowed, within an hour’s drive you can visit Brittany beaches, St Malo, Mont St Michel, Rennes and many medieval towns and chateaux.

Knowledge of French would, of course, be an advantage, but we’ve muddled by so far as learners and this would be a great opportunity to learn or improve your French!

There are no pets to look after. Your own transport would be essential in order to get around, as this is a rural setting with exrememly limited public transport. No smoking allowed in the house please.

The start date and house sitting term are flexible, but ideally we would like someone to start as soon as possible, and would hope you could stay for at least 3 months initially, and perhaps longer if all goes well.

We have had 5 other house-sitting couples to date, who stayed for between 2 and 9 months each, all of whom tell us that they had very positive experiences while living at the house. Our last pair of sitters arrived when lockdown started, and managed very well, and had a very enjoyable time. References from our previous house sitters are available on request, should you wish to see them.

We hope to hear from you soon!

House Sitter Feedback / endorsements (1)

“ Gorgeous property and great hosts in Northern France ”

Sit Dates Mar-14-20 - Oct-10-20 Sitter NottingHillNomads, Member Since Feb-20-20

It was an absolute pleasure to house-sit for Tamsin and Jules and we thoroughly enjoyed our stint as caretakers of this gorgeous property.

Our arrival unexpectedly coincided with the first Covid lockdown so instead of staying for a week we ended up staying for 6 months. We were able to fully isolate and grow our own vegetables but were very glad of the supermarket a few miles away that offered a click and collect service (primarily for baguettes and copious amounts of French wine!).

The top floor of the château is very comfortable to live in and this is where we spent most of our time when we weren’t out in the garden. The views across the village and farmland from the top floor windows are worth mentioning, especially in the summer when we were able to watch the birds during the day, the bats at dusk and the horses in the field opposite.

We were never stuck for things to do and loved being able to maintain the gardens and complete DIY tasks as we worked through the list provided. When it came to doing work Tamsin and Jules were really easy going, very appreciative of the work we did, and helped us with prioritising tasks. Although we were initially disappointed not to be able to meet the locals or explore attractions in the area, lockdown did provide us with the opportunity to completely immerse ourselves in life at the château and gave us a fabulous taste of living in rural France.

All the tools we needed to complete jobs were provided and we were able to purchase additional items such as paint and wall filler once the shops reopened. We also arranged for local tradespeople to come in to complete a few jobs such as cleaning out the gutters, improving the internet connection and trimming some high tree branches. Tamsin and Jules were always responsive to any questions and paid the tradespeople directly or reimbursed us for any expenses as soon as we sent over the receipts.

We also enjoyed working on our own projects and loved making new habitats for local wildlife such as a hedgehog house and planting pollinating plants in the gardens. The rural location provided the perfect setting for our wildlife camera that captured baby rabbits, red squirrels, deer, a pine marten and a hedgehog.

We were delighted with our experience and highly recommend Tamsin and Jules as excellent hosts for anyone looking to spend time in a beautiful part of Northern France.

Contact Home Owner


Please select the register button below to Join as a House Sitter, and receive your own confidential message system so you can contact Home owners
identified only by your chosen username (login name).


OR


Contact Home Owner


, You must be a Full/Paid member to contact Homeowners. Please select the button below to return to your members area, and activate your Full/Paid Membership. You may then Apply for Unlimited housesits for the next 12 months (Plus a Bonus Month.)




OR

Close this window to continue browsing.

tjkingfisher is a Verified Supporter of Housecarers.

You have already saved this Housesit

Do you want this Housesit
stored in your Housesit Favorites list?


  

Save Housesit


Please select the the Register button to Join as a House Sitter, for your own House Sitters Portal, so you Save Your Favourite Housesits like Home owners


OR