Original subtitles

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

ANGEL LAUGHS Don't crash!

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

restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

That one!

DICK LAUGHS

It's been a lot of hard work.

Oh, that's heavy!

But a lot of fun, too.

Families. ALL: Families.

\ Cheers. I

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...

ii

CRASH Oh!

...and some old friends.

SHE CHUCKLES

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

You're Monsieur Dick! ANGEL LAUGHS

There'll be plenty of highs... Yay!

...and lows.

SHE GASPS 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, one couple try to prepare their new garden event space...

You don't need instructions. Only when it goes wrong.

Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

...and end up in a tangle.

Oh.

Don't tell me you've done it wrong. I've done it wrong.

At our place, it's best foot forward.

Apparently, that is not a pretty bootjack...

...as Angel sets me to work.

By the time this is built, there's no reason why

these won't be around working for a very, very long time.

This owner tackles a greenhouse renovation.

I'm not cheating! I'm not cheating!

OK. You can open your eyes.

Oh! THEY LAUGH

And with their first official guests due in a matter of days...

Oh, no, no, Jayne!

Right. Put it in.

Now you've got it all over the gravel.

...these two chateau owners have their work cut out

to be ready in time.

It could turn out looking awful.

Couldn't it?

Of all the properties sold across France

to international buyers last year,

around a third of them were bought by us Brits,

which is hardly surprising, because there are some stunning properties.

Take the charming 15th-century Chateau Mareuil.

Originally a medieval fortress, it's now been home

to South Londoners Belinda and Lee for four years.

We often lose each other in this place.

Sometimes I have no idea where Lee is.

There's a custom, I think, with French farmers' wives

that live in the countryside,

is having a whistle or a particular type of call.

Hang on, I didn't know about this!

I think that's what I need, I need a sharp whistle. Like a dog, you mean?

Yeah. Blow a sharp whistle and I come running like a dog?

So that I can blow this whistle and then I know where you are.

Located 40 miles from Limoges, after several years of renovation,

last summer they launched the chateau

as an events and holiday let business.

They're now keen to expand into the wedding market,

and with their first booking secured for just eight weeks' time,

they've built a water feature in an outdoor area

they're planning to use for the reception.

I'm really excited about hosting our first wedding here

and they want to use the garden for their drinks reception

when they come back from church.

So, it's really important it's finished in time. Hmm.

With the countdown on, today they're adding one last romantic flourish

to finish off the garden - a pergola.

Ooh, Lee. That's nice.

Hey, that's not bad. The colour's nice.

You don't need instructions. Only when it goes wrong.

That's when you read the instructions.

Famous last words!

Trust me, I know what I'm doing.

Right, they're the bottom ones.

These Gothic arch things, these are the bottom ones.

I'll put that there.

Half an hour later, though, he's not feeling quite so confident.

Thinking better of it now, the instructions.

It's not as simple as it looks.

BELINDA SNIGGERS

Don't tell me. You've done it wrong. I've done it wrong.

Yeah, it's round the wrong way.

Oh, hang on a minute. What?

These are longer.

THEY LAUGH

Why didn't we read the instructions first?

Oh, you did it?

No, well, it's called bodge it and dab it.

No, but seriously.

Finally, after much bodging and dabbing, it's up.

That's it. That's in.

That's in. And that one's not, but...

Now, you want to get it in to position now, don't you? Yeah.

So, now, what we need to do...

The doorway here needs to be in alignment with the walkway there.

OK.

\ Right, imagine. I

THEY SING "HERE COMES THE BRIDE"

Now for the small matter of getting ready for that wedding.

When we moved into our chateau five years ago...

Turn. Turn, turn, turn.

Wow.

...it had stood unloved and abandoned for years.

Look at the sewage, look at the electrics in here,

you look at the lead paint.

200 plus pages of reasons NOT to buy a house.

We're now most of the way to transforming it into our dream home,

but the work is never done.

Oh!

One of our most recent projects has been the boot room.

It's a part of the house that's close to my heart.

The whole of the boot room area is much more me.

It's all the sort of coats and wellies, which is not Angela.

I bought her her first pair of wellies

the first Christmas we were together.

We went up to just above Abergavenny, up on a hill,

there was snow, and...

...she wore her wellies and a fur coat

and her most amazing hairdo and everything else.

She didn't quite get the whole concept of wellies.

Now, she wears them all the time,

because we're out and about the place,

but she still doesn't get the concept of wellies.

Mrs Strawbridge may not do wellies, but she does do style,

and there's one finishing touch to our new boot room she's requested.

Apparently, that is not a pretty bootjack.

Apparently, yeah. Fair cop.

I'll keep this in my workshop, bootjack,

and make some pretty ones for Angela.

A bootjack is a tool for taking off boots

and no boot room is complete without one.

To turn this into a pretty bootjack,

I suppose, I have to do something like, come down.

A bit further across, give me a base.

And then from this side, if I come down to join it from up here.

And then underneath it, have my sort of...

piece of wood for putting it on, like that.

That's a prettier shape.

It's just slightly more elegant.

The first thing I need to do is cut out the shape from some wood

I've pinched from one of our old linen cupboards.

Because this is oak, by the time this is built, there's no reason

why these won't be around working for a very, very long time.

We're talking about 50 years, they'll still be there,

working away.

Be quite nice, won't it?

That's the sort of thing I really like.

I'm all measured up. Now to cut out the mouth of the bootjack.

Another piece of wood on the bottom, like that.

That is a bootjack.

But I will make it prettier for her.

A bit more work and a splash of varnish,

I reckon this will be a bootjack fit for an angel.

Approximately 352 miles south, at Chateau Thuries,

husband-and-wife team Jayne and Steve,

who moved in last year, are keeping busy.

I didn't come over to the south of France to sit down

and do nothing, but I'm looking forward to...

...when all the hard graft is finished,

to actually take my foot off the pedal a little bit,

you know, and just making sure the standard is kept.

Located near Toulouse, they plan to open the 19th-century chateau

as a B&B and have so far renovated the guest rooms and reception rooms.

Obviously, we're moving towards that goal of opening,

so we've got a lot of work cut out for us, haven't we?

But I just can't wait to get it over and done with now.

With their first official booking in just over a month,

they have one of their last major jobs to do -

create a reception area in what they call the orangery.

It's where people are going to come into when they arrive,

so it's got to feel quite welcoming,

and we want people to be able to sit and relax in there in the summer.

Just make it a nice, warm room.

Yeah. And you're going to stencil the floor,

because you hate the floor. It's so cold and horrible.

So I'm going to paint it red and then put a stencil on it.

It could turn out looking awful, couldn't it?

Only one way to find out,

and that involves Steve and a paintbrush.

They're using a floor paint to cover the existing terrazzo tiles.

This terracotta colour's going to be a base colour

and then we'll do the stencilling with a lighter colour on top.

Instead of rolling walls, it's rolling a floor for a change.

Leaving Steve unsupervised to finish the floor,

Jayne's onto the next stage of the job, measuring up her stencil.

It's quite important that I get the measurements right,

because otherwise I'm going to end up with half a stencil at one end

somewhere and I don't want to do that.

Once I've done the first one, it will be fine, but I've got

to make sure that I've absolutely got them right before I start.

I just hope I like it, yeah.

Here's hoping.

A few hours later, with Steve's terracotta base coat now dry,

it's over to Jayne.

The moment of truth.

Right, here goes.

You can see the red very distinctly, the terracotta colour,

you can see that underneath the paint.

I think it's definitely going to need to have a second coat.

OK, let's just see how it's worked out.

It's not as clean as I wanted it to be.

Erm...

And it definitely needs two coats.

Second time lucky?

Bit messy.

Oh, well, Jayne, there's another 50 or so to go,

let's hope practice makes perfect.

Coming UP---

\Hooks.l

...at this chateau, the owner is on a mission to upcycle...

Where are the men when we need them? THEY LAUGH

You have to tell me when you move. Sorry.

...Angel picks up where I left off...

Dick is the engineering behind everything,

but I'm just a little bit more fussy.

...and as preparations continue at Chateau Mareuil...

I've got about 3.5 hours before our guests arrive

and I've never decorated a pergola before.

...has Belinda cooked up a disaster?

I've never made anything so bad in my entire life.

I'm sure it'll taste lovely. SHE LAUGHS

Sitting in 60 acres is the stunning Chateau de Lalande.

Dating back to the 16th century,

it's been home to owner Stephanie for the last 13 years.

Each challenge definitely becomes easier.

Now I'm able to just try things, even if I don't know how to do them.

There's so many people who can show me the right way.

It's worth trying, anyway, and what could possibly go wrong?

Located in the heart of France,

Stephanie runs a chateau for events and as a B&B,

and has recently renovated her fifth and final guest suite.

Oh, this is wonderful.

The light!

Stephanie's now turning her attention

to one of the chateau's other neglected corners

that she wants up and running for the coming peak season.

We're lucky enough to have a huge greenhouse here,

but it got very damaged in the storm last winter,

so we're finally going to restore it.

We should be able to have lots of delicious vegetables

for the B&B this summer.

I think it makes a very big difference for guests

to be able to experience that.

You bet it does, but there's a huge amount of work to be done first,

including replacing the windows and sorting out the inside.

Luckily, Stephanie has a team of live-in volunteers on hand to help.

There's a lot to do.

\ Really? I

THEY LAUGH

To finally have it working as it should've been,

I can't wait to see it, though.

I really can't. Yeah.

Let's get cracking!

Was this is a particularly useful bucket of stuff to have in here?

Yeah, you go should put it in the new room.

Clearing out done, but now something isn't stacking up.

I just think this is the most stupid shelf system ever.

It's coming a metre into the room, for no reason whatsoever.

The shelves are this wide.

Things are going to fall off the back all the time,

so I think we don't try to restore these. No.

I think we'd be better off doing just something entirely new. Yes.

To keep costs down,

Stephanie is keen to re-use items from around the chateau.

So the only thing standing between us and magnificent shelves

is a peacock and its poo.

And these old scaffold boards should do nicely.

OK, come on, Thor, off we go.

Come on, darling.

Take away Thor, and I'm taking away the poo.

I think that's a really, really good division of labour.

Poo-spotter. Uh-huh!

There you go. All right.

Get behind you, to your left.

Oh, there. Oh, my God. Big one.

There you go.

Excellent.

Next, they try to find some hooks for garden tools.

OK, now, I think there might be some in here, Marie.

I try to avoid coming into this room whenever possible!

Oh, there! There we go.

\ Oh, wow! I

Hooks.

Shall we take it with us and take them off there?

Yes, let's take it off. Cos this is a bit of... Take it with us, I mean.

Work it in. OK. It's quite heavy. OK.

Whoa, whoa! Are we doing it this way?

Why doesn't one of us take one end? OK.

Instead of both of us taking the middle. You go to... OK.

Have you got it?

THEY LAUGH

All right, great. OK.

And we're off.

You have to tell me when you move. Sorry, I had to get under the rope.

To the garden. To the garden, yes.

And beyond. Yes.

All right.

Right, I'll get a screwdriver.

Here we go.

Oh, these are going to look so good.

I love it.

Don't let the excitement distract you from your plan, Stephanie.

There's a lot to be done in here.

We need to bring the workbench in, make the shelves,

finish all of the panes and do a lot of painting.

But it's going to look great when it's finished.

At Lee and Belinda's, they've been hard at work

getting ready for their first-ever wedding booking.

These are longer.

THEY LAUGH

Why didn't we read the instructions first?

Unfortunately, they've received some bad news.

Due to a family illness, the wedding couple has had to cancel.

Excuse me, Misty.

However, there is another potential event.

A friend of Belinda's asked to hold her 60th birthday

party at the chateau.

They've decided to use it to launch their new outdoor venue,

although it's put them under even more pressure.

Because we had guests here last night,

so we're on a real tight turnaround, actually, today.

We'd planned to have the garden, with its new pergola,

ready in time for the wedding,

which has sadly had to be cancelled.

So what we've done now is to actually bring it forward

for this celebration.

So we've put ourselves under a huge amount of pressure -

I don't know why I'm laughing, really - to get it done.

Outside, Lee has big plans for the pergola,

even though they're up against it, timewise.

The idea, conceptually,

is to have kind of like vines running down,

interwoven with flowers.

And we'd quite like white flowers - Belinda wants white flowers in here.

With no time to plant anything,

Lee's making do with cuttings from the chateau grounds.

I've got about three and a half hours before our guests arrive

and I've never decorated a pergola before,

so I'm not quite sure what I've got to do.

I'm going to have to take some stuff from the garden,

so I need to go around and find stuff.

Hope Belinda doesn't notice I've just savaged a...shrub.

Snip away while you can, Lee - Belinda's distracted,

baking the all-important birthday cake.

I am feeling stressed, to be honest,

because I've got to get this cake done.

Let's just hope, you know, it looks OK.

Although I have made cakes - I DO make cakes,

not very often, admittedly - what's really worrying me

is actually the decorating of the cake.

Because that... Do you know, I cannot remember

ever having made a celebration cake with decoration.

Looks OK, actually - I'm quite impressed.

Let's hope for the best with this one, then. In you go.

See you later.

Outside, Lee's artistic vision for the pergola is well under way.

So, I'm just tying this.

I don't know what it is, but it smells really nice.

I've never been a gardener,

but once you start working a chateau

and you end up with quite a lot of land,

you realise that you have to learn quite quickly about gardening.

I'm not sure what this is looking like, overall.

Only one way to find out.

Oh, it looks lovely.

That's really nice - that's much nicer than I thought it would look,

\ honestly. I

Oh, good. It's slightly skewwhiff.

What do you mean? SHE LAUGHS

What do you mean?

I think the pergola is a bit skewwhiff.

No, the pergola's all right. I've spirit-levelled it, it's fine.

It's the ground that's wrong. It's the ground that's skewwhiff.

The ground that's wrong, the pergola's perfect.

Smell it - have you smelt it? Smell this one.

I knew that was coming. Right.

You old charmer, Lee.

There'll be plenty of time for smooching later,

but now you've got a bar to build in an outhouse.

I've got to clear all this lot out.

So I've got to get from this

to a decorative 60th birthday bar in less than two hours, actually.

HE SIGHS OK.

L'lljust get this out of here.

Up there.

HE GRUNTS

Now, we've the bar underneath, fairy lights next.

That's it.

Yes! They're on.

The Ooh La La Bar is back in business.

Belinda is also in business.

Her friend's birthday cake is out of the oven.

All she needs to do now is decorate it.

This icing...is really very soft.

SHE LAUGHS

I don't know what's going to happen

when I try to put it on top of the cake.

SHE LAUGHS

I really don't know what's gone wrong - I followed the recipe!

I think maybe it's the French ingredients.

Perhaps something was lost in translation.

This is very funny.

I'm going to put this other cake on top.

It's the thought that counts, Belinda.

\ Very rustic. I

I've never made anything so bad in my entire life.

I'm sure it'll taste lovely.

Well, with the celebrations due to start shortly,

there's nothing a few freshly cut flowers can't disguise.

At our place in the Pays de la Loire,

with my bit of the bootjack done,

it's over to Angel to finish the job.

Mr Strawbridge's beautiful bootjack.

He's come up with a really beautiful, elegant shape

and made it really well.

And they are expensive to buy.

She's adding a touch of luxury to my design.

Dick is just all about function,

and that is totally fine - that's why I love him.

You know, he's the engineering behind everything.

But I am just a little bit more fussy.

I like things to look a little bit more...elegant.

And it looks great.

So I've got a rough template,

and then that is going to just be stuck down.

But I need to make sure that...

...l'm just matching Dick's shape.

There we go.

With the patch done, Angel can do the decorative stitching.

Right.

Now happy it all looks good, it's time for the glue.

Get this in place.

It's going to be lovely.

When we get home, we've all got our jack.

I just, I cannot wait to just go for our walks, our winter walks,

and our hot chocolates and have family time.

We've got three chairs on either side, so I've done three bootjacks.

Good.

Done.

All that remains is to find the bootjacks a home in the boot room.

They look nice. They're not bad, are they?

Darling... It's not bad. ..l think

we could go into business, these are a fortune online.

Are they? I absolutely love them.

You take wellies off with these, not those. OK.

I'm happy to admit these new bootjacks knock

the socks off my old plywood original.

Hopefully, they'll be welcoming muddy boots to the chateau

for many years to come.

Coming UP '

Stephanie gets down to DIY in the greenhouse.

Scalpel. Thank you.

LAUGHTER

At Chateau Thuries, their guests can't arrive soon enough.

The coffers are running very low right now,

so, you know, we just have to try and do it as cheaply as we can.

And can Belinda and Lee avoid their garden party wilting?

I just looked at the pergola earlier on and the flowers have drooped.

Well, I can chuck a bucket of water over them, if you like.

At Chateau Thuries, Jayne and Steve are racing

to transform their orangery into a reception area

ready to welcome their first official guests

in four weeks' time.

We might have to buy three. Two or three.

Yeah. I think we will because there won't be any

that are as big as that wall.

Jayne's been stencilling for several clays, and now it's done.

And it's a pretty amazing job, too.

For the cost of a couple of tins of paint,

she's achieved the look she was after.

Now, Jayne's turned her attention to the plants

she wants to put in there.

I'm just looking up this Bougainvillea

because I think in the orangery, they'd look really beautiful,

if we could find some way of planting them.

But I'm just worried, because it does get cold in the winter,

what you need. It says here, "Minimum 7C to 10C."

Ah. So...

What we'd have to do is make sure that we...heat that room...

What, in the winter? ..somehow. I know.

Not practical. So maybe it's going to be...

Have you got any ideas?

I like the idea of lemon. A lemon in a pot.

Well, yeah, but they don't climb.

No. Because we've not lived here for many years,

we don't know what the habits are of these plants,

so I think we need to take a bit of advice

at the garden centre about it. OK.

They need to choose plants that'll do well in the winter...

...so they're after expert advice at a nearby garden centre.

Excusez-moi. Oui, bonjour. Merci, bonjour.

THEY SPEAK FRENCH

This is beautiful. Ask him what this...? I like that.

That's perfect. This is perfect. Parfait.

So we'll take that one. OK. We'll take this one.

\ This one? I

That's beautiful. And now we just go and look for some climbers.

And that means heading outside.

I think we could just get one of those. Just a jasmine. Yeah.

I like jasmine.

Au revoir.

A pretty successful morning, but yet more expenditure.

They've bought a couple of lemon trees and a jasmine.

The coffers are running very low right now,

so, you know, we'lljust have to try and do it as cheaply as we can.

But, obviously, you know, we've got standards to keep here, haven't we?

I mean, you know, the rest of the house is looking really nice,

and we can't sort of just not spend any money on the orangery.

It's the room that people walk into when they arrive,

and, you know, it's got to be welcoming,

it's got to look lovely.

Hopefully, your guests will be suitably impressed.

You'll find out for yourselves in a matter of weeks.

Back at Chateau de Lalande, Stephanie and her team

are cracking on with refurbishing the greenhouse.

Marie, can I have the brush and the paint?

All right. Here you go.

Thank you.

The rusty window frames are being given a fresh lick of paint...

...while Stephanie's builder Ian fits

the reclaimed scaffold board shelves.

Now 33 new polycarbonate panels need to be fitted.

They're much lighter than glass and, at £600 all in,

a lot cheaper, too.

It's a big task, though, so Ian and work away Marie

are on hand to help.

So if we take sheet number one. They've all got a number

at the bottom. Wow. Oh. Oh!

Turn it around, and if you could pass me the silicone...

Oh, the silicone.

...which is a... Which will glue them all in.

The first silicone bead holds the panel in place.

Need to then drop it in, push it down,

peel that one off, and away we go.

Is it normal to be really, really excited about a greenhouse window?

Of course it is. Then we put another bead, a bit thicker this time.

And a second holds and makes it watertight.

We can give it a shot now. Yeah.

OK. Who's first?

I'll have a go. Jolly good.

I'm quite excited about this. Yeah.

Ooh, this is satisfying.

It's like those things when you shave your legs,

you just rip them off, like this.

Sorry. Got distracted, there.

There you go, madam. Thank you so much.

Oh, no problem.

There we go. Yeah, that is satisfying, Marie.

LAUGHING: Yeah.

Scalpel. Thank you.

To the manor born, Stephanie.

So, do you want to go for number three?

Yeah. Let's do it. Right.

Yep, good fit, this one.

Not long, though, and she's starting to flag.

I think that this is one of those jobs that you hit

a bit of a wall of boredom after a while, and I think that it can

only be re-set by gin and tonic in this weather.

SHE LAUGHS

Six panels is a start, but there's still plenty to do tomorrow.

The next day, Ian's been put on window duty, so Stephanie

and Marie can move on to the next pressing task.

We have three times 70 litres sacks of soil.

Yes. And compost soil.

We have tomato plants that we are going to plant in here.

OK, good. This is exciting. Yes.

How much of this are we putting on here? Just a little bit.

Get some eggshells in there.

Eggshells add minerals to the compost,

though I have to say, I usually add mine to my composter, not the bed.

Let's start mixing it up.

It's a good exercise.

That's the bit I don't like, Marie. Don't remind me.

MARIE LAUGHS

With the soil and compost mixed, finally, they can get planting.

And then we just pop them in? Yeah, yeah.

\ Perfect. I

Well, this is exciting. Yeah. I want to see them grow, now. Yeah.

OK, everyone - the lettuce, radishes and tomatoes are in.

Does anyone want tea or coffee? Tea, please.

OK. Yeah.

I'll be back in a minute. OK.

I think the greenhouse is going really, really well.

It's making me want to be out there all spring.

I don't know how long that enthusiasm will last

for the garden, but I'm really enjoying it.

I'm chuffed to see you getting excited about this, Stephanie.

Take it from me, nothing beats your own produce on your own table.

40 miles away at Chateau Mareuil, Belinda and Lee are about to

host their friend Tina's 60th birthday celebrations.

They've spent the day racing to be ready,

but at the last moment, Belinda's spotted a problem.

I just looked at the pergola earlier on and the flowers have drooped.

Yeah, well, they're going to. They really have drooped.

Well, I can chuck a bucket of water over them, if you want.

Too late to worry about that now, Lee -

the guest of honour is pulling up.

Hello, you. Hello. Nice to see you.

You too. We've laid out the red carpet for you, as you can see.

Let's hope Lee's bar hits the spot.

THEY LAUGH

Da-dah! Ooh-la-la bar.

Oh, fabulous! It's brilliant. Absolutely brilliant!

Very excited!

Tina's Ooh-la-la bar is fab,

and I'm sure it will be enjoyed by the family.

Speaking of which - here they come now.

Make yourself feel at home.

The beer's over there, the Ooh-la-la bar's in there.

How are you? Very, very well. Good.

We couldn't fit any more people in. Every bedroom's taken.

Every room is taken.

Every bathroom is being used.

It's just such a pleasure. It really is good.

And let's not forget, you've got your outside garden space, too.

There may be the odd wilting bloom, but it's come a long way

from the unloved corner it was three months ago.

Befinda and Lee now have the outside area

they wanted for the party guests to enjoy.

I'd just like to say thank you all for coming.

Welcome to Chateau Mareuil and happy birthday to Tina.

Happy birthday.

ALL: Happy birthday, Tina.

I think this is a beautiful spot, just ideal for photographs.

Definitely a birthday to remember.

Oh! The candle's gone.

And no party would be complete without a birthday cake,

which, despite Belinda's worst fears, has turned out pretty well.

Y ay! THEY LAUGH

It's meant to be a musical candle.

I think it's going to have to burn brighter than that.

So I'm feeling mightily relieved that my cake was not the disaster

it could have been and I think it ended up looking reasonable.

I think we need to buy some fresher flowers for the garden.

Well, it was a temporary fix. It was very temporary.

Didn't work very well. It was so temporary, it didn't last a day.

THEY LAUGH

Cheers. Cheers!

In the end, it was a mad rush to get ready,

but the party's been a great success.

Belinda and Lee may not have hosted their first wedding,

but they have created a great outdoor spot,

ready for when their next booking comes in.

Coming up... It's action stations for Steve and Jayne in the orangery...

I think that's lovely.

...as tempers start to fray.

Are you sitting down on the job already? Yeah, I am.

And at Stephanie's...

Ah, got it. Whoo!

THEY LAUGH

...what will the greenhouse verdict be?

Oh, look at that radish.

Oh, organic lettuce.

At Chateau Thuries, Jayne and Steve's first official guests

are now due in a matter of days.

I need to know where you want me to put it.

The exact position of it. Yeah. OK.

Their orangery will be the B&B reception area for chateau guests

and there's still a lot to do to get it up to scratch.

We've finished all the decoration, so it's basically

a case of bringing all the furniture that's going to go in there.

The seats, the plants, there's a mirror to put up.

Got to look really welcoming and everything.

Yeah, and feel welcoming. Yeah.

We've basically got a guest arriving, so we've got to...

We need to be finishing it. ..try and get it all done

before they come. Yeah. Exactly.

Sooner started, soonest finished.

OK. That's it.

So we need just to centre this behind the mirror.

Underneath.

Oh, it's comfortable, this sofa.

Are you sitting down on the job?

\ Yeah, I am. I

Almost there.

It's time to get those new plants in.

Just loosen the roots a bit.

No, no, Jayne!

I'm going to put some more in.

\ Right, put it in. I

Now you've got it all over the gravel.

Look. Does it matter? Yeah!

Well, that's why we did it outside, rather than inside.

OK, that'll do.

Are you sure? Yeah.

So you can carry that one in. 00f.

Come on, you two. STEVE EXHALES IN EFFORT

You all right? The orangery is nearly done.

Oh, yeah, that's lovely.

With the last of the candles lit,

Steve and Jayne can finally stand back and appreciate their hard work.

Ah, voila.

An unloved room at the end of the chateau

has become an elegant reception area for guests.

Jayne's stylish stencilled floor, along with the plants

they picked up is going to make a great first impression.

Nice.

Lovely atmosphere, candles.

It's quite welcoming, isn't it? Yeah.

Steve's not going to pass up this chance

to take some snaps for their website.

I think we've succeeded, haven't we?

Well, I think it's looking great.

Yeah, it is. It's looking really nice.

Really welcoming, which is what we wanted.

We are obviously excited.

We've spent over a year, you know, on this chateau.

Our first guests are going to be arriving and, yeah,

we really would like to get some positive reactions.

It feels welcoming to me.

Yes, it feels welcoming to me, too. Yeah.

Anyway, we'll soon know.

You certainly will.

There's nothing like welcoming your first official guests,

and it's just a couple of clays away.

Back at Stephanie's and it's time for her summer season.

The new greenhouse is now in full bloom.

It looks so good.

I know.

I love it so much.

She and Marie are adding some finishing touches.

Ah. Got it. Woo.

Don't move! THEY LAUGH

I like them like that.

And just in time, mum Isabelle is visiting

and chomping at the bit to see it.

I'm quite excited because I have been prevented from looking

at the greenhouse since I arrived.

I happen to be the gardener in the family

and it is so important to preserve the greenhouse,

because it's lovely to have another corner of the chateau

in working order.

A neglected lean-to has been utterly transformed

into a bright and beautiful space where Stephanie and Isabelle

will be able to potter about for years to come.

And with the salvaged shelves,

hooks and pots from about the chateau, it's cost next to nothing.

I'm quite proud,

because other than having to pay for the new windows, which,

luckily, were covered by our insurance,

we haven't spent anything else on the greenhouse,

other than these little brackets to put shelves up.

I hope that my mother will be proud, actually.

Go on, have you got your eyes closed, Mummy?

My eyes are closed. Keep going.

I'm not cheating, I'm not cheating!

OK, you can open your eyes.

Oh, my goodness.

\ It's wonderful. I

Do you recognise these?

How lovely.

Do you recognise these, from the barn? It's amazing.

I can see that. I can see everything.

My hats, as well.

I love it! I love it.

I'm going to spend hours upon hours upon hours in here.

Right, Mummy, mojito, with the mint from the garden.

Oh, thank you.

Cheers. Cheers.

Cheers. Thank you, darling. Thank you.

\ I am so blessed. I

You know, I think lsabelle's impressed.

And to celebrate,

all that remains is to collect their very first greenhouse harvest.

What joy to come in here.

Oh, look at that radish!

Oh, organic lettuce.

Done.

And to serve it up to family and friends.

So, ladies and gentlemen, here it is -

the first salad from the greenhouse.

CHEERS AND APPLAUSE Thank you.

I'll put it down here. Beautiful.

I'm so hdPPY-

This meal marks the start of a whole season of different vegetables

from the garden and I'm very excited.

Great job, Stephanie.

We'll make a gardener out of you yet.

It's fantastic you've got the greenhouse finished,

but with the summer season upon us, there are plenty more jobs to do.

Next time...

Here's the pool, here's the solar farm, here's the sun.

...Lee devises a way to heat the pool.

Have a feel of that.

Wow! That is so hot.

That is too hot.

Jayne takes decorating to new heights...

I've done nothing but look at mountains and see the tones

and how it all works together.

My name isn't Michelangelo.

I'm very, very nervous about it, really.

...and at Stephanie's...

Quite a lot to do.

...there's a difference of opinion...

Let's get the men in and let's see how it goes.

I tell you how it's going to go. It's going to go to pieces.

...as stables are turned into an art studio.

Whoa.

It's a total transformation.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media