Original subtitles

I'm Dick Strawbridge and, with my wife Angel and our two children...

Don't crash!

..we're nearly five years into our French adventure,

restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

That one! Ha! Ha!

It's been a lot of hard work...

Oh! That's heavy!

..but a lot of fun, too...

Families.

ALL: Families, families!

..and all over France,

there are other intrepid British families doing exactly the same.

I'm just randomly drilling holes in the wall at the moment.

Now, Angel and I are once again lending a hand

to other expat chateau owners.

That's working for me. I love it!

We'll meet some new faces...

Dee-dee!

Oh!

..and some old friends...

Oh!

..and we'll reveal more about our own chateau life.

Go, Monsieur Dick!

There'll be plenty of highs...

Yay!

..and lows.

Oh! No. No.

..but, however hard it gets...

Whoa.

..they're all battling to transform these abandoned buildings...

It's not the size of the wine press that matters, it's what you do with it! Yeah.

..into extraordinary homes and businesses...

Oh, this is wonderful!

..to live the dream, as custodians of their very own castle.

Today...

..it's an uphill battle for two chateau owners.

I think we are 10, 15% in...

which doesn't feel very good.

..as they prepare to host some special guests.

It's just having a chateau, it's just how it is.

I check in on one family...

This is a big old build, this is not a trivial sort of amount of work.

..as their skills are tested to the limit on their latest project.

I think it's working out, I've actually really,

really enjoyed doing this.

And two new owners have their work cut out...

Oh!

..as they go in search of some chateau relics.

He won't be able to leave this now.

Every time he has five minutes to spare,

he'll be in here with the jack hammer.

Trying to get any chateau up and running takes time and money,

especially when your home is also your business.

Lincolnshire couple Tim and Rebecca and their two children have

now been at Chateau de la Ruche for almost two years

and have been transforming it into a B&B.

I think one of my favourite things is guests when they arrive,

them taking it all in and seeing everything

and being so kind of wowed by it.

Located 50 miles from us, in the Pays de la Loire region,

they've been struggling financially,

but, as summer approaches, they have now finished renovating their

third guest suite, which should bring in more income

and keep alive their hopes of staying in France.

The dream feels much better now than it did in the winter,

when we didn't have any money

and we didn't have a business that was working.

We did have one day where we kind of looked at each other

and thought, "You know what? This might actually work!"

This kind of crazy idea might actually work

and we might be able to survive.

Today, they're preparing for their next guests.

They need to repair their driveway,

as the guests are arriving in high-end sports cars in two weeks.

So, this is all our gravel, look.

So Tim and live-in mate Dale are at neighbour Alain's farm to

collect 30 tonnes of gravel.

It's got mud, it's got sand, it's got big gravel,

it's got little gravel

and it's really good, because you can compact it down in the driveway

and make it nice and solid.

It's going to be big job.

Tim and Rebecca's driveway is nearly three quarters of a mile long

and wraps around the edge of their grounds.

It's got lots of big holes in it and it's steadily got

worse, to the point where it is a bit of a disaster.

Their chateau is just a stone's throw away from the Le Mans

racetrack, which hosts the famous 24-hour car race.

It could be a big money earner,

if they can start attracting car-loving guests,

so it's crucial they get the driveway right.

We've never done a driveway before.

We've never really done anything like it before, to be honest.

So we are going to make it up as we go along.

Thankfully, neighbour Alain has agreed to let Tim

and Dale use his tractor and trailer.

Alain?

Though it's not started well.

One of the trailer's tyres is flat.

Oh!

Oui.

This is what we call getting "La Ruched".

Whenever you think a job's going to take a certain amount of time,

you can add on at least another 50% of what you think it's going to take.

That's chateau life for you!

It's filling up quick.

Luckily, it appears to be an intermittent issue.

The valve's leaking - if you move the valve, a little bit leaks.

Oui.

It only leaks if you manipulate the valve, so as long as it doesn't

move too much when the wheel's going round, we should be all right.

With the problem solved for now, Tim and Dale head back

to the chateau to start laying the gravel on the driveway...

..with help from Rebecca's parents, who are over from the UK.

They've all been given strict instructions on how

it should be laid.

The drive was the one of the first reasons

I fell in love with this house.

It's tree-lined, it's beautiful. It looks like a country lane

and, if I had my way, I'd probably leave it all bumpy,

so I want the grass to stay in the middle.

Just one problem with that, it makes the job trickier.

Not only do they need to make the drive level,

they also need to avoid covering the grass.

This isn't tiring at all.

And, with only rakes to do it with, it's going to be a long

and laborious task.

I think we are...

I dunno, 10, 15% in,

which doesn't feel very good,

but I'm going to have to get on.

300 miles away in south-east France is the impressive medieval

Chateau les Rosieres,

set in 130 acres of land.

It's the new home of Brit Amy and French husband Marc,

who moved in last year.

When we first came here, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace

and I immediately felt like I'd come home.

It was that sense of your whole body

and mind relaxing, as you come into an area that normally only

happens when you go back to the place you were born.

Our chateau is a place where we can happily spend a week

without feeling the need to go outside.

Located just an hour and half's drive from Lyon,

their long-term plan is to open it up as a high-end B&B

and host yoga retreats.

They've been working on their eco-friendly sewage

system for their en-suite bathrooms.

Now, Amy and Marc are focusing on the inside...

Right.

..and today they're removing the modern fireplace in the dining room.

Yep. That's it.

This room's one of the main rooms where we will receive guests

who are coming, so when we do posh B&B,

in the room just above this one, we can't exactly just shove them

in the bedroom, they've actually got to have somewhere else to go,

and so the idea is to have this as the dining room,

as somewhere that we can bring them for nice dinners

and to sit and to really kind of get the feeling of being

in a chateau, because this is one of the grandest rooms in the house.

And it's just incredibly incongruous to have a completely modern

false wall made of plasterboard and we'd really like to take that

out and see what's behind it and, hopefully,

there'll be a nicer fireplace behind it and, hopefully,

we'll find some nice old stones.

Your turn.

To take a closer look, there's only one thing for it...

..a pry bar!

What? Sorry!

Don't kill me, please. OK!

I know, I know what I'm going to do.

I can see the back wall of the fireplace,

which actually looks erm...

..quite ugly. OK.

It's not what they were hoping for...

OK, so... Well, let's carry on.

..but who knows what else might be lurking in there?

You never know what you might find in a chateau,

especially one that's 800 years old.

Eurgh!

Oh!

So what we've found is,

we've gone back about 50cm,

and we've found the same fake

granite-painted wall behind as is on top,

which is a little disappointing.

I think I'd hoped we might find real stone.

But there is a possibility that there'd be an older

fireplace even further behind.

To find out...

..Marc sets to work with his big drill!

And I've hit the stone behind it.

It's looking promising...

I'm going to try and make a slightly wider hole.

..let's just hope it's not another false dawn.

So we can see that this was the

original layer of stone,

cos it's covered in soot.

Oh, so it's the old fireplace? So this was the original fireplace.

It's a great find, but there's lots of work to do to

if they're going to expose the medieval fireplace...

..not that Marc seems to mind.

He won't be able to leave this, now.

Every time he has five minutes to spare,

he'll be in here with the jackhammer.

It's like picking a scab or something,

he just can't leave it once he's started.

Coming up...

I don't know what we're doing now

and I couldn't quite work out what we've done wrong.

..Tim and Rebecca get some unexpected help...

He just said to me he had to come round, because it was a catastrophe.

..I catch up with two chateau owners,

who reveal their unusual renovation plans...

Next time I come to see you, I'm going

to go and do some Riverdance on your gantry.

..and things start to get messy for Amy and Marc.

All the dust is coming through this door.

That'll be absolutely horrendous to get out.

In north-western France, lies the beautiful 19th century

Chateau la Grande Maison.

Musicians Ben and Billie have been renovating it into a luxury

guesthouse and events venue.

It really was love at first sight. Aw!

It was.

I came through the gatehouse and seeing the house and like,

"Oh, my gosh!"

It was one of those moments where everything stands still, wasn't it?

Yeah. I remember thinking, "Life is going to change."

Situated near the Loire Valley,

they have one room left to refurbish - the old library,

where they want to start hosting book club events in six weeks.

So far, they've managed to restore the old skylight...

..and, with help from Angel...

Lovely.

..created a wonderful display table.

That's working for me.

I tell you what, that really is! I love it!

Now they're ready to tackle the biggest part of this task.

We're hoping to create an entire wall, which has a mezzanine

floor to it, with steps leading up to it, to get to the actual books.

It's quite ambitious.

Never done it before, but got to learn somewhere.

It sounds like an exciting challenge and, as an engineer,

it's right up my street.

So, I'm checking in on them to see if I can be of any help.

Ah, there you are. Hello, how are you two?

Good to see you again. How are we doing?

Yeah, all good.

This is a big old build, this is not a trivial sort of amount of work.

Yes, I think they used to call them galleries, it's a gallery, which is

a raised walkway and then underneath that will be cupboards.

Can I just say, the raised walkway, do you see yourself then

going up and having somewhere to walk left and right past the books?

Yes.

I found, on the internet, some old railings,

so we're going to cut those to size and these book shelves are exactly

the same size as each cupboard, so one will be above the other.

OK. I'm looking at it and there's a couple of little points

coming to me straight away.

How are you going to actually support the weight

and how many people are allowed on there at any given time?

The weight is all going to come through these posts that

come down, six along the front and six along the back.

They're going to go directly onto joists.

OK, so it's basically the verticals that are taking the weight.

At the back of your gantry, that wall behind you is nice and solid?

Unfortunately not.

It's one of those, I don't know if you've got them at your place,

but it's an internal wall and they're made of quite thin brick,

it's almost like a modern brick on its side, that kind of size.

I think the technical term is, "It's made of cheese!" Right?

I wouldn't trust that at all, do not use that for anything structural.

I'd be very aware of putting anything on it, because it'll wobble. Yes.

I bet if you go over there and push, you can make it wobble. Yeah.

Now, if it is like that, what I've done to increase the actual

strength of it in the past has actually to board it.

For example, in our downstairs loo, we've actually boarded both sides,

which doesn't sound like a lot,

but by boarding both sides of the wall, it just gave us

much more structure and integrity to put things through to hold it.

That was just because I didn't like it being able to move.

No, good idea.

OK, but your advantage is all the weight is acting down.

Your test needs to be next time I come to see you, I'm going

to go and do some Riverdance on your gantry.

Look forward to it! Love it! That's it, Riverdance.

And when I do Riverdance on your gantry,

if I see you go slightly pale, you know it's not strong enough.

Please don't wear a kilt.

Who'd wear a kilt up in the air on a gantry?

That would be wrong at every level.

It's a lovely, lovely idea. I love the drawing, I love the concept,

I can't wait to see what you're doing with the place

and just think how strong it has to be.

OK. Fantastic. Great advice, Dick. Thanks so much for your help again.

Thanks. Bye, take care, Dick.

Go on, get on with it! Bye!

I love the sound of this project

and Ben isn't hanging around.

He's already cutting out bits of old garden railing for the balcony.

I'm a massive fan of upcycling.

Not only does it save on waste, but it also saves you a quid or two.

It looks much prettier, now.

It's all the small bits.

Got rid of the big, clunky bit up here,

the big, fat post bit on the side.

It's starting to look a bit more "indoors-y" than "outdoors-y",

which is what we're going for.

It looks great.

Let's hope the rest of the project goes as smoothly.

Over at Chateau de la Ruche,

Tim, mate Dale and Tim's in-laws are still resurfacing

the three quarters of a mile of driveway with 30 tonnes of gravel.

I'm knackered already and we've only done one trailer full.

I couldn't even tell you how many more there are to do.

Maybe another five loads? Four or five loads.

I don't think it's going to be enough to cover the drive.

They have guests arriving in top-class sports cars in two weeks

and the resurfacing job is being made all the more difficult,

as Rebecca wants to keep the grass in the middle of the drive.

Doing a perfectly mediocre job of filling in the potholes!

But I think it looks rubbish at the moment.

Cue French neighbour Alain...

..who has come over with his tractor

and is already re-arranging the gravel.

So I don't know what we're doing now

and I couldn't quite work out what we've done wrong,

but Alain seems to have come to try and fix it.

So, we're now getting a very French repair of the drive -

which might not be very pretty!

He just said to me he had to come round,

because it was a catastrophe and it shouldn't be going down

so thick and it was still very bumpy and he wasn't having it.

With Alain now pulling the strings, he's come up with a simple solution.

The new technique is we're just going to drop it straight out

the back of the trailer and Alain's going to push it into the driveway.

Going to be a lot faster, we didn't think this was possible,

but then we didn't have my wife earlier on and she wanted the bits

of grass down the middle of the driveway to stay,

but she's come round to them not being there, so that's fine.

They'll grow back.

With Alain helping out, everything's moved up a gear.

Alain is like my French dad, basically,

and he looks after us, so I'm very happy that we're in capable hands

with Alain and I'm sure the grass in the middle will grow back and

he has promised me that the grass in the middle will grow back, so.

I think he likes to watch the silly English people that bought

the chateau have a go and then he comes round and rescues us

in the end - that's generally what happens.

Having a handy neighbour is certainly a big plus

for Tim and Rebecca.

However, despite laying 30 tonnes of gravel,

there's only enough to cover half of the driveway.

So definitely more gravel needed and more of Alain's time.

It's not ideal.

It's just having a chateau, it's just how it is.

Until they get more gravel, they're going to have to keep Alain sweet.

British beer?

Ah, OK.

We've had a really good day, I think in the end, it's turned out pretty well.

We've got a lot of gravel down and it looks pretty good.

Definitely, you can tell the difference.

But we've still got quite a lot of drive to finish.

With Alain, I will speak to him very, very nicely and ply him

with beer and, hopefully, he'll come back and help us another day,

and then we can get it finished before our guests come in their nice cars. I'm sure we can.

Fingers crossed their masterplan pays off.

In south-east France, at Chateau les Rosieres,

Marc has been busy in the dining room

and has uncovered an ancient fireplace.

We just got a bit carried away and ended up

taking down the entire 1970s wall and revealing the original medieval

fireplace, probably, that used to be at the heart of the house.

That was actually really exciting, cos we found massive stones -

big, granite stones -

I reckon they would weigh about half a tonne each.

Yeah. Which is quite impressive,

given the lifting devices they had at the time.

Now they just need to clean off centuries

of soot from the stonework.

So, Marc's borrowed a professional sandblaster

and it's going to be a messy job.

The main problem you have when you sandblasted the dust,

that means that you can't see anything

and also you can't breathe, so you need to wear special equipment.

So this is a ventilated mask,

that's linked to the air compressor.

Sand blasting is basically a jet of sand driven by compressed air.

It shoots out so fast, it scours everything in its path.

It's a simple but time-consuming job and right up Marc's street.

So all Amy can do now is take a back seat.

The one thing about Marc, he rarely gives up,

so it might take him till midnight, but he's going to keep going.

It's a bit frustrating not being able to help.

I just have to stand and watch.

Or have a cup of tea - that's another option.

Sounds like a plan to me.

Although, before Amy has time to put the kettle on...

Dust is coming through the house.

..she's spotted a problem.

All the dust is coming through this door.

This whole room is now full of dust and it's going through the other.

It's really fine dust, so it comes through any crack

and it's just working its way through the house

and that will be absolutely horrendous to get out.

When you're dealing with this much dust, it's always best to

tape up the doors beforehand.

But, better late than never!

It's a bit like bolting the stable door...

..after the horse has run away.

Never mind, Amy, I'm sure it'll be worth it

when the fireplace gets finished.

Coming up...

..Ben and Billie's project moves closer to reality,

as they put their creative hats on...

You start getting a feeling that something heavy could be

sitting on that.

..Tim and Rebecca need to pull out all the stops,

before their guests arrive...

You can clean toilets and I'll make beds.

..and Amy and Marc discover more historic

features for their medieval fireplace.

Ooh! Look at that!

In north-western France, at Chateau la Grande Maison,

it's now two weeks until Ben and Billie's book club event

and the mezzanine floor in the library is taking shape.

The book shelf is going really well.

We've got both bits of the railings in, which is fantastic.

I'm pleased to see they've reinforced the wall,

but there's still a lot to do,

especially to the original fireplace.

When they first cleared the room,

they found a section of the marble surround was missing...

I think that was there. So we're missing that?

So that.. That may have shattered.

..so Billie has come up with a very clever idea.

She's created a plaster of Paris mould to fit the missing bit

and is painting it to match the rest of the marble.

The piece that was missing, I found that there's the start of a

pattern and I had to carry that pattern on onto the moulded bit.

Also, it was great, when I realised this was a mirror

image of the other strip, to go on the front of the fireplace,

cos that meant, as long as I followed the patterns up,

I could match whatever was going on in the marble on the other side.

I think the patterns are really crucial to helping deceive the eye.

It certainly looks impressive, as I can't tell the difference.

You have to be really patient.

Look in the background for the colours

and whatever colour is furthest away from your eye,

you've got to put that on first and be really, really patient,

before you get to any of the little finishing colours.

So, like, around the white areas,

there's a little black edge,

but you put it on and then you sort of have to make it disappear again.

I'm just using water to sort of blur it out.

I think it's working out, I'm really pleased with it.

I've actually really, really enjoyed doing this.

Outside, Ben's making mouldings for the front of the book shelves,

to give them a 19th century feel.

In the 1850s, they used Greek and Roman architecture

as an influence for book shelves and I've done a bit of research

and found some of these sort of mouldings on some photographs.

In a bid to replicate the style,

he's had to do some creative shopping.

I found this fantastic place

that bought up all these antique picture frames.

I got these really, really cheaply.

But I've bought everything they've got, so we can't buy any more stock,

so whatever we've got, we're going to use to its best effect.

It's a brilliant idea

and a cost-effective way of giving a chateau added character.

I'm going to build it all on a bit of timber, to hold it all together,

and then the actual column itself is going to be made up

of three different mouldings -

two matching and then a smaller moulding in the middle.

I'm going to build the bottom piece of timber up,

so it kind of steps down.

You start getting the feeling that something

heavy could be sitting on that.

The whole thing needs carefully glueing together

and is already starting to look the part.

That's going to be great.

I can't wait to see it finished.

It's another baby step forward

and I'm looking forward to seeing it, too.

90 miles north,

it's now the day when Tim and Rebecca welcome their guests

in their high-end sports cars.

You could start running the hoover round the meadow as well.

Yeah, I will, yeah, I'm just going to get the towels in the wash.

With the weather getting warmer, bookings have taken off,

so work to re-surface the drive has been slow-going.

The drive is definitely a lot smoother.

I wouldn't say I'm exactly pleased with it, because erm...

..it's not finished.

Kind of ran out of time, cos it took us

a bit longer to do the first half than we expected it to

and then we're relying on our lovely neighbour Alain to come

and help us out and he's been a bit busy, recently.

So, we've got it half done and then the rest of it

we have filled in all the potholes and it's all looking pretty smooth

and it's a million times better than it was beforehand.

They're not only under pressure to ensure the drive doesn't

cause damage to the cars,

but they also have to get the rooms ready,

as their previous guests have only just left.

So we had a full house last night - three families, six kids,

six adults - so it was the first time we've had all the rooms

booked out since we opened the suite,

so, yeah, it's been a bit mad.

With time in short supply,

Rebecca tackles the bedrooms,

while Tim is on bathroom duty.

I know how to make the beds, I just think you do a better job.

Do you? So there we go - our skills are perfectly matched.

You can clean toilets and I'll make beds.

Evenish? Yes.

Presentation is key,

especially when trying to build up a new B&B business.

We've got quite a few back-to-back bookings over the summer,

actually, so we're going to have to get good at this.

Twisting and turning rooms over.

I think we both share quite high standards in terms of what

we would expect from somewhere, so we're quite

particular about making sure that that's what we give to people.

There's no time to do any more,

s their guests are here.

Hello!

So, this is the Meadow Suite.

This has a little second bedroom, in case you have children with you.

Oh, wow, look at the windows! Beautiful!

At night, do you have the windows open? Yeah.

This is the main bedrooms.

Oh, gosh!

Wow!

There's entrances to the bathroom both sides, so...

So this is the Honey Suite.

You've got a little dressing room in this one

and then the main bedroom's here.

No-one's slumming it, I don't think. No, I don't think so.

No, it's beautiful. It is.

And then the bathroom's just through there. Love the bedroom.

Well, you guys get settled in and then come downstairs

and we'll get you a drink in the sunshine. OK, lovely.

You must be ready for a beer.

Oh, definitely, always.

It certainly seems the chateau gets the seal of approval.

Let's hope the new driveway has also been kind to their cars.

We weren't really sure what to expect,

but it was really good, coming up the little country lane.

Typically French.

The road surface was really good.

Then you come round the corner and you see the chateau in front

of you and you do go, "Wow!" when you see it.

Yeah, really lovely.

When you walked in the room and just saw what they've done,

they really have thought about everything. Definitely. Yep.

It's a big thumbs up - all their hard work has paid off.

They have said the driveway was absolutely fine.

It's still rustic, as Rebecca wanted it to be,

it was little bit dusty was the only comment they said,

when you're following behind somebody else. Yeah.

It's another big step towards Tim and Rebecca

establishing a successful B&B business.

Yeah, this definitely the beginning of our summer, now.

The summer season is kicking off.

We've got loads of lovely bookings coming up and we're nice

and busy, which is what we wanted, so it's perfect.

A good start.

Sounds as if it's going to be a busy summer.

Cheers. Happy holidays. Cheers.

In southeastern France,

Marc has finally finished cleaning the medieval fireplace.

It's also been re-pointed and, remarkably,

they have also found yet another original feature.

When we uncovered the fireplace,

we realised that there were some big holes in the wall,

where they used to hang the bracket,

which the cauldron would have been hung over the fire.

Now, Marc had seen a picture of the fireplace

and it had a big bracket that hung above the fire,

and we were a bit disappointed there was nothing left there,

but then Marc had heard stories that it might still exist

and it was still here when the previous owners were here.

So we spoke to them and they had a root around and they found

it in their barn - they had decided not to throw it away.

So, really kindly, they've offered to just give it to us.

So Marc is going to go round and see

if we can get the arm for the cauldron and put it back on.

What a fantastic stroke of luck.

Thankfully, Fred, the previous owner,

lives just down the road, so Marc doesn't have to travel too far.

He lived in the chateau with his partner for just a couple of years.

It was Fred who put in the modern fireplace.

He had no use for the bracket,

but hoped it might come in handy one day.

Bravo, Fred.

It certainly looks impressive and is in great condition.

Merci, Fred.

It just goes to show you should never throw anything away,

it might just come in handy.

Back at the chateau,

Amy and sister-in-law Kate are heading into an outbuilding,

hoping to find something cauldron-like to go with the bracket.

Right, it's in here somewhere, Marc says.

Oh! There's a little one here.

Yeah, that looks like it.

It's an old copper pot, but it could work rather nicely.

Brilliant.

C'est bon, c'est bon.

Now Marc is home, he's keen to see

if the bracket might fit back in its original place...

..with help from brother Etienne.

Oops! No!

Nice work, chaps.

Ooh! Look at that! Nice.

I have ze cauldron.

It's a little bit small, but... Enough for the soup.

But not enough for one of my potions.

The fireplace is coming on a treat.

Now, Amy wants to get the rest of the dining room up to

scratch, as she's invited over the neighbours for a special preview.

We need to clear the absolute bombsite

that is the room - full of dust everywhere, rubble.

We've got to dust everything

and we've got to actually just make it look nice. Yep.

Better get your skates on then, Amy, as the clock is already ticking.

Yep.

Coming up...

Urgh! Maybe we should put it on its end?

..Ben and Billie prepare to host their first book club event in their new library...

Ben, down on the left.

..and Amy and Marc go all-out to impress their neighbours.

Ooh! It looks better than I thought. I rather like that.

At Chateau la Grande Maison,

it's the day of Ben and Billie's first book club event

and the library is still not finished.

How much more are you doing?

Um, the last bit. Are you just putting that block on the top?

Yeah. OK.

However, Billie's restoration of the fireplace

has worked seamlessly.

It's worked out great,

just looks like it's all intact

and wasn't really smashed up.

It's an impressive job.

I really want to spend some time over the mouldings for these,

so I'm going to do those another day.

Well, can I just interrupt you? Yeah.

Cos we've only got about an hour before they're coming. Right, OK.

We better crack on with it, then.

I'm just going to start bringing things in to dress the room,

otherwise we'll just run out of time.

There's lots to bring in. SHE GROANS

Maybe we should put it on its end

and try and slide it in?

They're dressing the room with furniture from local charity shops,

like this three-piece suite they picked up for just over £80.

Yay! It's in.

Oh, my goodness. Well done.

However, the centrepiece is the display table.

It's filled with curiosities from their own garden.

That looks amazing, Billie, really, really incredible.

I'm really pleased with it, it's come out great.

The room is coming together very nicely...

Ben, down on the left.

..which is just as well,

as their guests are starting to arrive.

It's amazing, isn't it? It's gorgeous.

What a lovely space, well done. Well done.

Oh, my goodness. Well done.

Five months ago,

their old library was nothing more

than a dark, dingy dumping ground.

Now, it's an elegant, sophisticated space

that has all the charms of centuries ago.

Ben's impressive mezzanine level

gives the library a unique feature

and provides the perfect backdrop for book club events.

Welcome to the library.

Oh!

That's lovely!

It's very smart.

THEY EXCLAIM Very cosy and inviting, isn't it?

First impressions seem positive.

Ben designed this idea to have the bookcase up there, so...

There will be a matching staircase

that will take you up there.

Coming here for a book club,

coming here to relax,

a really nice idea.

Most impressed.

Who wouldn't want to sit there

and be pampered with a lovely fire in the winter?

Gorgeous.

All of Ben and Billie's hard work has paid off.

It's gone so well.

We just pulled it all together at the last minute.

They reacted like it was a special place to be. Yeah.

It felt like that. Yeah. I mean, we've put our hearts into it...

Absolutely. ..so we feel it's special.

THEY CHEER

It's a great asset for the business.

Cheers. Cheers, everybody. Thank you very much.

Cheers. Well done.

Well done, both. Thank you.

Great work.

I can't wait to see what they get up to next.

In southeastern France...

..Amy and Marc are preparing for the arrival of their neighbours

and are raiding the kitchen to finish the new dining room.

So, we want to move this wood burner into the dining room.

The wood burner is our current one in the kitchen...

..but we're just using it as a kind of way to see what it looks like

and what one we might end up with eventually.

Ooh, it looks better than I thought.

I thought that was going to look really rubbish in here,

to be honest, but that's really cute.

I rather like that.

It's taken a lot of hard work,

but having peeled back many layers of history,

they've revealed, and beautifully restored,

the chateau's medieval fireplace.

Now, with the help of some of their family,

they're racing to get the dining room looking its best.

They want to make a good impression,

as it's the first room they've renovated

for their high-end B&B.

There's still lots that I want to change, but for the first time,

I'm looking at a room that reflects us

and feels like us and our home.

With the room dressed and food on the table,

all they need is their guests.

Bonsoir.

Right on time,

French neighbours Sonia and Didier arrive with their two sons.

Salut.

And Amy and Marc are eager to find out

what they think of the room.

Oh!

THEY EXCLAIM

THEY LAUGH

It's got the big thumbs-up,

so Amy and Marc can relax and enjoy the dinner.

Everybody got some?

This is my first raclette, as well.

It was lovely to show people the room for the first time

and be able to do a ta-dah moment

cos you get their reaction when they see it all complete,

and that was really special.

Yeah, I really love the feeling of the room

and finding back this medieval atmosphere

of the fireplace.

And it's somewhere now that we'd be proud to bring people into

and give them a luxury experience here.

I think it feels like the kind of room

that makes sense for that, now.

Next on the agenda

is the fact that we've finished where we're going to welcome guests,

but now we've got to have somewhere for them to sleep.

So, bedrooms next.

If it's anything like the dining room,

this place is set to become even more special.

Next time...

One day, I'll have a nice kitchen.

..Tim and Rebecca start work on their next project...

Tim does care what the kitchen looks like,

but not in the same way that I care what the kitchen looks like.

..and Angel steps in to lend a hand.

How are you? I'm good. How are you? Welcome.

Ben and Billie have it all to do...

We've got some really exciting plans for the look of the building.

..as they prepare for their big family wedding.

I just want it to be as magical as possible.

And Amy and Marc have their hands full...

Get off, you hooligan.

..as they get cracking...

CRACK, SHE LAUGHS

..on their accommodation.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media