Looking for a new home in the French countryside, perhaps with a gite to bring in extra income? If so, an ideal way to start your property-hunt could be a stay at Tree Tops, a gite in Limousin run by expats the Stevens. Read on to find out more…

Article written by The Overseas Guides Company

Lynn and Pete Stevens are experts at making Brits feel at home in rural France – for the past three years they’ve run a gite at their property in the Millevaches Natural Park in Limousin and before that they had a B&B.

The Stevens’ property, Tree Tops, is in a hamlet between the villages of Bujaleuf and Eymoutiers, and consists of a converted barn – their home – with an adjoining gite, as well as two large barns, currently used for storage. To the rear is a large garden with stunning views across a valley where famous Limousin cattle graze. The historic city of Limoges, famed for ceramics and with regular flights from the UK, is around 40 minutes away.

“When we bought six years ago, the wow factor for us was the relaxing location, pretty scenery and beautiful stone buildings,” said Pete, who also does building and maintenance jobs for other homeowners in the area. “The first thing we did was renovate the gite. Upstairs it has two double bedrooms and a family bathroom, while downstairs there is an open-plan kitchen/diner/living area, plus toilet. Next we started work on our home, the barn, converting the loft area into two double bedrooms with en-suites, while downstairs we have a large lounge, split level kitchen and a dining room. We just have some outside terraces and my bar to finish!” They also have an above-ground pool, which guests can use at allocated times.

Lynn and Pete began accepting guests at their gite in June 2012 and have got steadily busier. They get clients through their website and holiday let websites, including TripAdvisor, as well as by word of mouth. Their busy times are from June to September, although they have had clients visiting in the winter for skiing and others using the gite as a base while house hunting. “Running a gite is good fun and rewarding, but it can also be hard work,” continued Lynn. “But we do it as much for socialising and meeting new people.”

The Stevens, who come from Kent, first discovered Eymoutiers and the Millevaches Natural Park in 2004, during a trip through France. They had decided to buy a home across the Channel, but as far as area or location was concerned, they started with a blank canvas.

“Finding Eymoutiers was pure fluke!” said Lynn. “We randomly stopped off at a hotel there and noticed a house in the window of an estate agent. We visited the property the same day and had our offer accepted. So we returned to England, put our house there on the market and sold within two weeks!”

Lynn and Pete made their first house, which was in the village of Eymoutiers and also called Tree Tops, into a B&B, or ‘chambre d’hôte’. “We lived in the middle section of the house,” said Pete. “We converted the loft into two double en-suite bedrooms with a shared dining room, while the ground floor we made into a self-contained one-bedroom apartment.”

On property in the area, the Stevens comment that “most houses bought are stone houses and can be very good value for money – you get so much more here.” As well as the unspoilt rolling countryside and ancient villages, another attraction of the Eymoutiers area are the freshwater lakes. The largest is Lake Vassiviere, which boasts its own island and is fringed by a handful of manmade sandy beaches, giving access to swimming areas and all kinds of water sports. A smaller lake at Bujaleuf is equally popular with bathers. And a bit further south is Treignac, with its own Lake Vezere.

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