Original subtitles

and our two children... Welcome aboard, mateys!

..we're now five years... Whoo!

..into restoring this once-abandoned chateau.

This is beautiful.

It's brought its challenges.

And some amazing rewards.

Thank you for my flower garden, Mr Strawbridge.

And across France,

there are dozens of other Brits

who are on their own chateau adventure.

Yay!

We'll meet some old friends.... Smile! I am. ..and new faces.

These rooms really haven't been touched in 60 years.

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

It is SO much better in real life!

There will be highs...

Yay!

..and lows...

Oh, no!

God. What a disaster!

..as these plucky Brits...

Time is money.

..transform these once-unloved buildings into incredible homes...

I just cannot believe how much work you've put in for us.

..as well as businesses... Whoohoo!

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

Cheers, everybody!

Today, as a new gite project gets under way...

The worst thing that'll happen

is we'll drop it on the floor and break it.

..it's a case of famous last words. Oof!

This owner nears the end of a marathon project.

I'm going for a very kind of bold, luxury feel.

She's a very expensive mistress, that's all I can say.

At our place, a new interior designer gets to work.

Dad, do you want that shiny colour? I love it.

Darling, when you work it all out, you can tell Mummy and just say,

"Daddy agrees with me," OK?

And sparks fly for one couple.

Drop your end, drop your end.

Drop your end. That is dropped. Don't push it back in.

No, no, no, grab it.

But it's not just a sink they're struggling with.

Whoa. Whoa, what was that, what was that? Oh, no, it's cracked!

Nooooo!

Our decision to start a new life across the Channel

is one we've never regretted.

And we're not the only Brits who've decided

a French chateau is a perfect place for a family.

Like here at the elegant Chateau de la Ruche,

home to IT engineer, Tim,

journalist, Rebecca and their boys, Rufus and Laurie.

With 24 rooms and 15 acres of parkland,

they bought it in 2017 for £380,000.

It's a decision they've never regretted.

We have a much more outdoorsy lifestyle here.

The kids have got so much more space and freedom to run around

and play with their friends and that's just something

they didn't have where we lived in the UK.

The best thing for me is not having

to do the Monday to Friday nine-to-five.

But we have replaced that with Monday to Sunday,

seven o'clock in the morning till midnight instead.

Located about an hour's drive from us in the Pays de la Loire,

after months of renovations,

Tim and Rebecca launched as a B&B last year.

We have had an incredibly busy year and we've had lots of bookings.

We're definitely in a... I feel a lot more secure this year,

in that we know the business can work if we work really hard.

Definitely in a better place.

With the business going from strength to strength,

Tim and Rebecca are looking at ways to meet the increasing demand,

and that means more accommodation.

So, they're now creating a two-bedroom guest gite

in what is currently a derelict outbuilding.

To keep costs down,

they're doing the vast majority of work themselves,

with a spot of help from builder, Dave,

and Rebecca's dad, Pete.

We worked out our centre

and then measured out from the centre, didn't we? Yes.

And the next crucial job for Tim is to install

the windows in what will be the gite's living area.

We've done some of the prep work.

We've taken the tiles off on the outside

and marked out where they need to be

and we've started putting in some of the frames.

That's the easy bit.

So what we're gonna have to do is fit it in that way, tilt it back in.

Now to try and get the window into position.

This end goes through first and it goes in upside down, almost.

Then when you tilt the window, the other bit slides in.

Famous last words. Right, ready when you are, then.

The worst thing that will happen is we'll drop it on the floor

and break it, which wouldn't be ideal.

The ladder is in the way, scoot it.

Weighing in at about 40 kilos, you can say that again, Tim.

You see that clip? Make that... I can't see anything, Dave.

This has got to go in there first.

Make the black pin go into that groove, if you can.

So bring it across. Which groove, Dave? That's it, that's it.

Up a bit and in there. That's in the right position.

Tilt the window back, to the top,

and now it should start sliding down.

Open it slightly, so I can get out.

All right? Right.

Now tilt it. No, that bracket's not....

That's come out. OK. Oof!

Well caught!

But this one has...

We've got to come down.

Come down.

A lucky escape.

Cos we're going to drop it.

That black pin, when we tried to spin it round,

was in the wrong place.

It's supposed to be in the big groove, not in that little groove.

Yeah.

Undaunted, they try again.

Right, now tilt it down. Close it like you would normally.

OK. That's clicked.

Success.

The second time was easy. Yeah.

Nice work, chaps. And just in time...

That wasn't stressful.

..as here comes the site manager to inspect the job.

Cool.

Looks good, doesn't it?

I think we've realistically got a day to go on the skylights,

a man day.

And then probably four man days to go on the dormers.

Is a man day different to a girl day?

Yeah, it's more productive and less talking.

I find that hard to believe. So I think by...

If it was girls doing it, we'd have it all done by now.

There'd have been less messing around, a bit more multitasking.

Yeah, and it probably would have looked exactly the same,

just been vastly more expensive.

So, yeah, other than that, it would've been fine.

SHE LAUGHS Ooh, ooh, fighting talk.

But with three more skylights to go,

perhaps it's best you just agree

to crack on and get this place watertight.

This is the stunning 19th-century Chateau Caillac,

sitting pretty on the bank of the River Lot.

It's been home to Cheshire couple, Steve, an engineer,

and his wife, Angela, since 2004.

We do literally pinch each other

and go, "I cannot believe this is ours.

"How amazing is this place?" Yeah, yeah.

Located 60 miles from Bordeaux,

they mortgaged themselves to the hilt

to buy this 20-room chateau for £800,000

and have spent the last 15 years renovating it

into a luxury home and holiday rental.

You have to really work at it.

It's absolutely full-on all the time.

But I think we've got to the point now where we are enjoying it.

I am proud of what we've achieved.

Oh, yeah. Definitely proud of what we've achieved.

And the fact that we're still together

and talking at the end of it. That's amazing.

That's probably the most surprising thing, actually.

To pay off their mortgage,

Steve and Angela let the chateau each summer,

and return to the UK to live on their houseboat.

I hate to say it, but it always feels lovely as we drive away,

we look round and we go, "Oh, my gosh!"

Every year, we do more and more, don't we, and that's really good.

When we last met them, they were getting the place ready

for the summer season by improving the grounds...

They look lovely. ..and the guest suites.

That one's falling out. Quickly, there. That one.

No!

Oh, gosh.

Why on Earth did I choose one like this?

SHE CHUCKLES

The holidays are now over and Steve and Angela are back in France,

but there's no question of them putting their feet up.

Something that we've noticed through the summer

is that the pool house kitchen is definitely now

letting the side down. Yep.

It's become more and more obvious that more people cook outside,

by the pool house.

So we want to just make it that little bit step-up, really.

Off-season improvements are part of the never-ending cycle

of owning one of these places,

and a poolside revamp will hopefully increase summer bookings.

We'll take it all away

and then we'll have a look at what we've got

and then we'll see how this plan is going to fit in...

OK. ..to, you know, this space.

Might not quite look like this, you know.

This is only an artist's impression

that I did on a computer in about an hour.

Right then, let's get on with it. Let's get started, then.

I always love the start of a new project.

It's sort of full of promise, isn't it,

and you've not got to the mistakes and the nightmares yet.

I'm actually not too worried about this project.

I think it's, erm...

There's not a lot that can go wrong, really.

Famous last words, Angela.

At least, clearing out this area should be straightforward.

Here, don't look at that. Eurgh!

All it really needs is a bit of teamwork.

If I lift a bit, come your way. That's it. Now you're talking.

Don't turn it. You pulled.

You need to push your end in. That's it.

Drop your end. Drop your end. Drop your end.

That is dropped.

Don't push it back in.

No, no, no, grab it.

Pull it towards you, Angela.

Right, keep....

Pull it towards you. That's it.

And then just tip it up. That's it.

The skill is making it Angela's idea and then that's fine,

but we just do it my way.

What are you trying to say, Steve? Nothing.

Not saying anything about you at all, darling.

Just like I said, teamwork.

Now the fun can really begin.

Steve and Angela have plans to make new worktops

the centrepiece of the revamped kitchen.

And have come to a local timber yard to pick up something rather special.

Bonjour. Bonjour. Ca va? Bonjour.

We're here at the sawmill today to pick up the two pieces of...tree

that we're going to use for the worktop in the poolside kitchen.

With the help of the yard's forklift,

they're getting their timber to take away.

Careful, Steve.

# Ho-ho-ho! # FORKLIFT BEEPS

It's so exciting when you see something!

That's going to be our worktop, how amazing is that?

Wheee! Voila.

I think it looks nice, it's going to be good.

Right, I'll just get my chequebook, to pay.

Right, you get your chequebook.

The cedar sections have cost 120 euros, just over £100,

a bargain any way you slice it.

Ah, oui. Merci, monsieur. Merci, monsieur.

Bon merci.

But back at the chateau, Angela is wondering

if they might have sourced it from even closer to home.

By the look of this wind,

we might well have one of our own trees down, to chop up for the wood.

Yeah. It's absolutely blowing a hooley!

THEY LAUGH It is a bit windy, isn't it?

The last thing they want is for their worktops to get wet

in the brewing storm, so there's no time to lose.

OK, I'm going to do the lift now, OK?

One, two, three.

Oh! Not really... Whoo!

Who ordered the gale-force winds?

Put that cardboard underneath, so it carries on....

SHE LAUGHS

That was heavier than the piece of wood!

OK, we're in.

Other than the cardboard becoming a sail...

SHE CHUCKLES

..they look really nice.

They certainly do, let's just hope the wind dies down

or the rest of the job is going to be far from a breeze.

Coming up, this owner is out on the tiles.

I've got to mark it all out, because it's such a peculiar room.

If I can lay the floor downstairs with heavy-duty terracotta tiles,

this is a walk in the park.

Arthur, Dorothy, I've got a job that I need a bit of help with.

At our place, the children do a runner. Good work.

Oh-ho-ho-ho!

What about that, Mummy?

Oh, that's very pretty.

And for Tim and Rebecca, it's a case of mutts...

DOG SNARLS

Really unhelpful dog. ..and butts.

I've got a mighty fine view of your bottom.

Mighty fine bottom. It is!

Five years ago,

when Angel and I first walked into the elegant hallway

of our chateau...

This is not too shabby.

..its magnificent staircase was one of the first things

we fell in love with.

It's pretty incredible.

When we first walked up those stairs,

this had beautiful burgundy lino in it

with gold up the edges.

It was oddly delightful.

Once we'd renovated the suites,

we wanted to restore the staircase to its former glory.

With 40 steps, it was going to be a challenge,

so Angel called in the experts.

Arthur, Dorothy, I've got a job that I need a bit of help with.

OK, you won't remember this, but this is very, very,

very close to the colour of the original carpet.

Her new burgundy carpet was being laid in a couple of days,

so we needed to decide on the edging,

and Dorothy took it very seriously.

They're both the same.

Well, they're the same thing, but they are different.

Look. Oh, well that's very pretty.

Hmmm.

Those reds are a bit clashy, though, aren't they, mm? Mm.

Perfect timing.

What's going on?

NARRATOR: It looked like the Strawbridge ladies needed

a bit of help in the interior design department.

That's browny-gold.

Well, it's quite good, that would go with it.

This could work.

Oh-ho-ho. Try that, Mummy.

This could work.

Just remind me what you need me to do, just agree with you,

is what you're saying? Yep.

NARRATOR: I should have remembered. When it comes to this stuff...

I think we should do them all different.

..Just stay quiet.

Dad? Do you want the shiny colour? I love it.

Dorothy, I've got to tell you, I'm Mr Muted Colours.

When you work it all out, you can tell Mummy,

and just say, "Daddy agrees with me", OK?

Yay.

In the end, there was one thing we were all agreed on.

Does that look amazing, or what?

We kept our fabulous carpet simple,

and the only bling was the stair rods.

It just feels so right.

What's it like up at the top?

Good. I am so happy.

Angel, if you're happy, then I'm happy.

We're not the only ones restoring chateaux to their past grandeur.

Take historic 12th-century 13-bedroom Chateau du Masgelier,

home to DIY dynamo Fiona and her 11-year-old son, Louie.

I did really want a really big project, from start to finish, so,

you know, it suited me for what I was looking for.

It was a bit of a find.

Located in the central Limousin area,

after hosting a wedding last year,

Fiona is looking into holding more as a way of increasing her income.

And her latest project is transforming two rooms

on the first floor into a luxury suite.

My vision is to recreate a beautiful bathroom suite

in the King's Tower and then, you know, the master suite,

I'm going to go for a kind of black and gold theme in there,

and with an oriental wallpaper. So, yeah.

Quite excited about that.

She's already been working on the suite for three months,

ripping out the '70s decor from when the chateau was

a children's holiday camp in a former life.

Having now wallpapered the turret bathroom,

today she's making a start on the flooring.

I've got to mark it all out because it's such a peculiar room,

circular, rather than a square room.

Kind of got to mark it out in the centre and work my way to the sides.

Laying rectangular tiles in a circular room requires

a bit of organisation, so Fiona has a laser guide to help line them up.

The lovely thing is the floor is nice and flat.

That makes it much, much easier to lay.

That's the floor marked up,

now Fiona can get on with laying the tiles.

So, this is like a slate look.

It's a beautiful effect.

Don't have to use underlay.

Completely waterproof, and so flexible,

and it literally clicks together.

If I can lay the floor downstairs with heavy-duty terracotta tiles,

this is a walk in the park.

With that, she's off.

These tiles simply slot together, so there's no need for adhesive.

Yeah, wow, it's lovely.

Look at that, perfect.

Happy that her laser-guided floor is on target,

Fiona's onto her next task in the bedroom, and she's not holding back.

Because I'm going for a very kind of bold, luxury feel,

with silks and satins and velvets,

I wanted to go for a beautiful oriental paper and, you know,

the castle can take it.

The castle can take bold, strong colours.

It's important to me, I want the castle to regain her luxury,

sophisticated look.

She's a very expensive mistress, that's all I can say.

Do you know what? There's nothing straight in this place.

There's no point getting halfway round the room

if I've got a wonky pagoda.

It's looking good so far,

but there are plenty more pagodas to line up

before the room is finished.

Over 150 miles north, at Chateau de la Ruche,

work on the new gite has ground to a halt.

Hello.

Hi.

A booking for a weekend retreat has come in,

and as it could be a big earner for Tim and Rebecca, it's all hands,

and paws, on deck until after the event in three days' time.

Raw and Gather is a floristry, foraging, slow living photography

retreat, which sounds a bit wafty, but it's going to be lovely.

The guests, a group of florists and photographers, are paying

well for the retreat, which means everything has to be perfect.

The only problem is, the barn where it'll be held is presently

full of garden equipment, logs, and lots of dust.

What first? Maybe move the machinery and things out of the way.

We've got a group of lovely women coming from all over

for a couple of days here at the chateau,

and we're going to forage for foliage,

arrange flowers, have massive feasts,

and it's all going to be beautiful.

And it's my baby, really, and Tim is being dragged along for the ride.

Um. And we don't have to do any preparation...

SHE LAUGHS

..or put up any lights, or run electricity anywhere,

or clear out entire barns, and stuff, at all, so it's great.

SHE SMIRKS

You're so... You love it.

He loves it.

I do love it. SHE LAUGHS

Well, let's move this stuff out into the farmyard,

so that we can see what's going on. OK. Yeah?

Monty, can you not leave things everywhere?

No!

Sit!

To run the retreat in the barn, they're going to need electricity.

So this is hopefully our power supply.

So, I'm going to plug it in in the house,

and then run it all away across the garden to the barn.

HE CHUCKLES

Right, so 50 metres gets me here...

..which is hopelessly short.

I'm going to go and get another one.

There we are, made it. Ah, and with bits to spare.

Only by plugging two together to get here. Oh.

With the barn now tidied, Rebecca can begin cleaning.

SHE SIGHS

Monty loves rakes.

Although Monty seems to be a bit more of a hindrance than a help.

He also likes brooms.

Really unhelpful, dog.

Enough! MONTY BARKS

Enough! Monty?

The dog's an idiot.

Er, right. Lights?

I don't know what we're going to hang them with.

I'll hang them with hopes and dreams.

Foot the bottom of my ladder for me. Yep.

If you take up the slack of some of them.

I've got a mighty fine view of your bottom.

It's a mighty fine bottom. It is.

And with all the lights in place.

Give them a try.

Ready?

Ta-da! Cool.

That looks good.

I'm pleased with how the lights have turned out,

because I was slightly concerned about how dark it was in there,

and whether we'd have enough light for everybody to do the flowers in.

I'm not worried about any of it.

I think...I honestly think we'll be fine.

We'll just have to go with the flow. See what happens.

So far, so good.

This old barn is really beginning to look the part.

Back at Chateau Caillac, Angela and Steve are busy revamping

their poolside kitchen to make the chateau more appealing to guests.

The cedar sections that will eventually

become their worktops have been sanded, and treated.

We treat any new wood to help protect it against the termites.

But before they can think about fitting the worktops,

they need to figure out a way to support their weight,

and engineer Steve has something up his sleeve.

This is our steel store.

So, these are all posts that we've had from the old fence gate

down by the river, and I'm thinking if we're putting this wood down,

and we had cut this in two, and one side of it goes up against

the underside of the worktop,

and the other one has one of those legs on it... Mm-hm.

..to actually support it just off the ground. Perfect.

I think they...they're not going to go anywhere, are they?

No. Right, OK. Are you all right?

I'll take this end and you take the other end.

That's it.

Re-using an old steel gatepost like this is a sound idea.

It'll save money and it should be easily strong enough.

Put it on there, then. Does that come to 85?

Yep. Sure?

Yep. Well, it does.

All measured up, now they need to make the two supports.

OK?

Next, a spot of welding.

Eyes.

I think that'll do fine.

And finally,

fixing the feet salvaged from the old kitchen carcasses.

Let's have a look.

That's what you call a serious...seriously amazing post.

Impressive work, but Steve and Angela aren't done up-cycling yet.

I think these will make really good lights.

Yeah? Yeah.

Angela has had the bright idea of using these old demijohns

as light shades for the poolside kitchen.

We need three.

How many have we got?

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine.

So, you've got quite a few to get wrong.

HE CHUCKLES

What do you mean, ME get wrong?

Shall we take a couple with us?

Do you think? Yeah, I think we should take two with us.

And see how we get on?

Back in Steve's workshop, it's time to formulate a plan.

The idea is, in order to make these into a really lovely light...

SHE LAUGHS Difficult to imagine at the moment.

..we need to cut a hole in here

so that we can actually get in to change the bulb.

So, what we've got to do is drill a hole in that.

Sounds simple, but cutting through thick glass like this can be

tricky, so Steve's bought a fancy new piece of kit for the job.

See these little sparkly bits, are they actually diamonds,

or is it just a word for it?

That's diamonds on there.

So the light fitting will be really cheap,

but the tools to make the light fitting cost an arm and a leg.

Right, are you ready?

You need to go really steady.

Diamonds really can be a chateau-owner's best friend,

they're super hard-wearing and with low friction properties.

It's a slow and steady way to cut through ceramics and glass.

Don't go too fast, Steven,

because I think you're better going slower.

You have to be steady and gentle.

Is that a crack? Was that there already?

Oh, it's a crack.

SHE LAUGHS

I think I'll have to go a bit slower and probably put less pressure

on, maybe, and fingers crossed that we don't break another one, really.

Here goes take two.

That doesn't seem to be cutting anything like it was before.

I'm not pressing very hard at all, though.

How many lights did you say you wanted up there?

Erm.

But moments later...

Oh! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! What was that? What was that?

Oh, no! It's cracked! Noooo!

Coming up...

..Fiona does some furniture restoration...

The frame will be black,

or, "Noir", as they say in France.

..and as the day of their retreat arrives...

Are you having a great time, Tim, being bossed around by three women?

THEY LAUGH

..Rebecca's anxious about their guests' final verdict.

You want them to think that everything you've done is

beautiful and amazing, so the pressure is kind of on a bit.

In central France, Fiona is making steady progress in her new suite...

Wow, I'm loving that, I am so thrilled with that.

..named the Bremond Suite after a French nobleman

who lived here during the 18th century.

Fiona's keen to furnish the room in keeping with the period

and has picked up a Louis XVI-style chair for 50 Euros

from a local brocante. That's about £40.

Actually, the bones of it is in really, really good condition.

It is sprung, so I don't have to do anything with that.

The idea is to restore it

into a piece worthy of the Palace of Versailles.

The frame will be black, or noir as they say in France.

Um, and I'm going to then upholster it with this beautiful fabric.

If you can imagine, cos this is horrible.

And if you can imagine that with a black frame

and then this beautiful fabric.

I think that's going to look really plush, really expensive.

For this job...

Come on, then.

..she's off to the outbuilding she keeps for her restoration projects.

I know it looks a bit barbaric, taking it apart,

but it really only is superficial.

It is very dusty and musky. SHE COUGHS

And it smells of cats.

What I want to do as well is try and salvage some of the wadding,

the stuffing. It's all original.

I think it's really beautiful to try to keep that.

Fiona's workshop may look like a TV crime scene,

but once her dog Valentine is lured away...

Come on. Come on, quickly. SHE TUTS

Come on. That's it.

That's the postman's leg he's eating.

..it's perfect for using a paint gun.

The trick is when you're doing this, don't wave it all around.

Just go up and down, keep it at the same distance,

and just a slow coverage.

Spraying ensures Fiona will get an even finish

in all those ornate nooks and crannies.

And a little while later...

Look at that.

Look at that! SHE CLAPS

That is really nice.

What do you think? Really smart, I know.

..stage one of this restoration project is complete.

Can you imagine that now, with the gold and black fabric on?

Really thrilled. Love it, love it.

Now to get the chair, and suite, finished.

In the Pays de la Loire, it's the day of the retreat,

and Rebecca is adding the finishing touches

to the now unrecognisable barn.

Did my dog ruin your display?

The retreat's organisers, florist Paulina and photographer Kim,

recently arrived from Canada and will be running the workshops.

I think we're going to land the champagne here, right?

So I need to get out of the space.

Seven guests are arriving from all around the world this evening,

and the work is still far from finished.

Got to go and get bread, go to the station, meet the people.

And then we can leave them while we go over

and sort the children out, get them to bed, finish cooking dinner...

SHE SIGHS ..and all that.

When you say we... We, me.

Shall I just stay with the kids through all of this?

That sounds fine. OK.

You can't get out of things that easily, Tim.

Go ahead, go ahead.

The second picture of me doing work. This is you in motion doing work.

Are you having a great time, Tim, being bossed around by three women?

THEY LAUGH

The plan is for a champagne reception,

followed by dinner in the chateau garden.

I think we've got about an hour and 15 minutes.

It'll be fine.

I'm most worried about people being cold, cos it is quite windy,

even though the sun's come out.

Pumpkins. Go on.

I won't be at all offended if you move things that I put down.

Yes, for sure. SHE LAUGHS

Yes, for sure I'll move them? Yes, for sure.

The guests coming are all quite, um, amazing, kind of, florists

and photographers, so that makes it slightly more stressful,

because obviously you want them to think

that everything you've done is beautiful and amazing,

so the pressure is kind of on a bit.

There's no time to worry about it now.

You're all set and they'll be arriving any minute.

Over 250 miles south, Steve and Angela

are in the finishing straight

with their poolside kitchen refurbishment.

They've tiled the walls and the worktops are in place.

Oh, it's looking good. Yeah.

So you've grouted the tiles now. They're all done, aren't they? Yep.

And that's not all. Engineer Steve has come up with an inventive way

of solving their demijohn lighting problem.

I've set this up on...

Basically, it's an engine lift with a drill on it.

And that's the demijohn upside down.

I've just set it up with a little bit of weight on it.

Another couple of days should see it done, I think.

As one engineer to another, I love it.

Well done, Steve.

But there's no waiting around,

as two demijohns have already come off the production line.

Just go real slow, though, with everything.

You've done such a lovely job, I don't want it to get spoiled.

It already looks good. I'm excited.

Do you like it already? Yeah.

Angela's picked up an oar at a local brocante to suspend the lights from.

Is that enough now? I think one more time.

Well, that then means that if I take that away,

that actually just hangs down... There's no movement. ..like that.

Yeah, OK. Is that where you want it?

That's perfect, because I can see through it,

but it's still in your peripheral vision.

With the first light hung, Steve makes short work of the other two.

Ooh! That looks nice.

Right, OK, let's see if they work.

Wahey!

All that's left is to put the finishing touches to the kitchen.

You need to go towards the railing, Steven.

OK? Mm-hm.

Perfect. Happy with that? Yep.

And with the table set, the transformation is complete.

Over the past few weeks,

a run-down corner has been turned into a sophisticated guest area,

truly in keeping with the rest of the chateau.

Best of all, by re-using and recycling,

not only is it unique, but at £1,300,

has cost a fraction of what it could've done.

And as night falls, Steve and Angela get their chance to give it a spin.

Oh, Steve, that looks ace. Yeah. It looks great, doesn't it?

I think people are going to really enjoy using this space.

Cheers, lovey. Cheers. Here's to our new kitchen.

Well done. Oh, I get a kiss as well. Yeah. Cheers. Well done.

Shall we toast the lights? Yeah, let's toast the lights.

Here's to demijohns and drilling. Yeah.

And here's to doing-it-yourself,

especially when the results look this good.

Excellent work, Steve and Angela,

your guests next summer are in for a real treat.

Well done. Yeah, well done.

Coming up, Tim and Rebecca's retreat gets under way...

Hi. Hi, Chantelle. Nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you.

..but there are last-minute doubts.

It's quite scary, especially when people have travelled

such a long way, kind of puts the pressure on a little bit

cos you think, "Well, they better have a good time."

And at Fiona's, the finishing line is finally in sight.

This is all the nice bit, it's like having a baby,

you forget about all the pain you went through.

In central France,

Fiona is a whisker away from finishing the Bremond Suite.

She has just one last job to complete.

The chair's coming along really beautifully.

I mean, it's completely transformed, isn't it?

I want to just try and get the pattern central.

I don't want the pattern to be off, obviously.

I just want to secure it at the back,

and then I can pull it from the front.

And then you can pull it nice and tight.

You get a beautiful...look, see? You get a really nice, tight finish.

Fiona wants an authentically 18th-century look,

even if her methods are less traditional.

I prefer, personally, to use a staple gun,

rather than all the little teeny tacks,

because they're so short, they just pop out.

It's just a nightmare.

So that is really nice and tight.

And then the braid will give it a nice touch at the end.

And it'll cover up those staples to boot.

That is really...

..yeah, eye popping.

I like bold, and I like statement pieces.

I'm, you know, I'm not a magnolia girl.

Look at it! It looks like a totally different chair.

I'm very pleased with that.

After four long months of single-handed graft,

Fiona's new suite is almost complete.

It's nearly finished. I'll be a free woman.

And you always know you're at the tail end of a job cos...

..got a no-shoes policy now, with the new carpet down.

Today her vision will become a reality,

once she's added the final flourishes.

This is all the nice bit, isn't it, really?

When you're just styling the room, setting it all up.

It's like having a baby, you forget about all the pain you went through.

Fiona just needs to give her restored Louis XVI chair

pride of place.

I'm really pleased with that.

Looks completely different, doesn't it?

Yeah, I love that.

Isn't that nice? Looks really luxurious.

This has been a job that's tested even Fiona's stamina.

You know, I did get to a point I thought I'd never get there.

So much work.

I did think halfway through,

"Couldn't you have done an easier suite?

"I could have got two done in this time."

But it's been worth it, I think it's turned out really well.

By stripping away the dated '70s decor

and ripping out the existing bathroom,

she's pulled off an amazing solo feat.

Fiona's created a suite

that I'm sure even the Marquis de Bremond himself

would've been happy with.

In the King's Tower, the bathroom,

centred around its freestanding bath,

is now a perfect place to relax.

Great work, Fiona. It's quite an achievement.

I'm so pleased with

the way the Marquis of Bremond Suite has turned out.

It's exceeded my expectations,

it was well worth the long, long summer restoring the room

and restoring the whole suite, actually.

And will provide perfect guest accommodation.

It's just super to have a really special place

for the bride to get ready before the ceremony,

and even for the bride and groom to stay for the night.

It's been another busy year for Fiona.

She's celebrated the chateau's illustrious history...

CHEERING

..and even found time to create a bedroom for daughter Rochelle.

Thank you, Mum.

OK. You're welcome, darling.

But Fiona is determined to keep on going.

The next project will be to create another bedroom suite.

And then I have the beautiful four-storey spiral staircase,

that was the servants' staircase in the 1700s,

so I'd like to get two projects complete for the year ahead.

I salute your energy and appetite for renovation, Fiona.

It's reassuring to know this beautiful place

is in such good hands.

Back at Tim and Rebecca's,

the first guests for their weekend retreat have arrived.

They're from South Africa and America.

How do you do? Hi.

I'm Chantelle. Hi, nice to meet you. Lovely to meet you.

Oh, my word!

As they settle in...

Shall I put some light on? Then you'll be able to see.

..Rebecca is busy juggling her other responsibilities,

helping Laurie and Rufus with their homework.

Tim's gone to pick up the next lot of people.

The main courses are done,

so I just need to do the side dishes and pudding.

And my dinner! And your dinner, yes.

Have you finished those sums, Laurie?

Yeah. No, you haven't.

No, no, don't look. No cheating.

You cheater! Seven plus what makes ten?

I'm glad that I got ahead, because I knew I would need to be ahead today.

I knew this would happen,

so I'm really glad that I was up late last night cooking.

It is quite scary,

especially when people have travelled such a long way.

It kind of puts the pressure on you a little bit,

because you think, "Well, they'd better have a good time".

Homework done, and, as the final guests arrive,

there's just time for some last-minute prep in the barn.

And the evening can get under way.

We're going to be in the beautiful, creative work space.

Yes, but we're not having dinner in it, so we wanted to show it to you.

Come through, come through. It's beautiful.

Festooned with lights and beautifully decorated,

the barn is now unrecognisable from the neglected outbuilding

they started with three days ago.

What?! That's beautiful.

Who would like some champagne? Well, some bubbles.

These are the ultimate, ultimate scissors.

Good reactions, yeah, it's going really well.

Lots of photos, lots of sharing.

It's taken some twisting of Tim's arm,

but it looks like Rebecca's vision has paid off handsomely.

I think the space is magic and I think, for me,

this kind of space inspires me to create,

and I hope it inspires everyone in the room to create

for the next two days.

It seems that champagne quaffing has been hungry work.

It smells so good.

And with a classic coq au vin, the menu is clearly a big hit.

Potato, as well. Oh, wow.

The entire evening, it seems, has been a success.

First, I'd like to say thank you to Rebecca and Tim for hosting us.

I mean, it's been a dream already and this is only the beginning.

So thank you so much, this has been amazing. Oh, thank you.

And I'm looking forward to the next couple of days with you.

Thank you very much, cheers.

Thank you very much for you guys for all coming.

Yes, thanks, everybody.

I can't reach, but cheers. Sante! Cheers.

And the biggest turn-up? Even Tim's now on board.

It's been a surprise for me.

I was very sceptical of it and very grumpy about wasting my time on it.

The barn looks really, really amazing,

and it kind of looks like we always imagined it could look,

which is really nice. It's the first time it ever has done.

Yeah, it is really good, and it just shows you

what magic you can do with candles, festoon lights and some flowers.

Congratulations, you two.

You've worked hard and deserve all your success.

And once you get back to it, I can't wait to see how the gite turns out.

Next week...

Right, we're here.

..we follow the peaks...

Wow! My God!

I'd forgotten how fantastic this place is. Isn't it?

..and troughs.

It looks a lot worse today.

You're not supposed to say it looks worse.

One couple digs for gold.

Very possibly, there is treasure right below my feet right now,

and we're going to be getting our tickets to go to Barbados.

Angel shares some know-how.

That's not the right figure. Is it too much?

No, it's not enough. Oh.

Right.

And at this chateau...

I hope it doesn't look like a washing line.

Oh, yeah!

..the owner hosts a very special wedding.

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