Build A New Life In The Country: French Chateau Rebuild | History Documentary | Reel Truth History

when Jason and Philippa met they knew they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together it was meant to be you know after a whirlwind romance they're ditching their high-flying jobs in Aberdeen oil industry for a new life together in France a spectacular noir Valley and when they saw this amazing chateau it was love at first sight all over again that life was in a dreamland really I saw this place but transforming the Chateau into a dream home in upmarket B&B it's a massive gamble my blood pressures gone up because I'm 24/7 at work with a tight budget and no building experience Jason and Philippa put their relationship to the ultimate test prisoner cell blockade and to cap at all they've just six months before their first guests arrive I can't see how you can finish this just imagine if you could turn your back on the fight of the career ladder and leave the rat race behind for one of the most beautiful houses imaginable set in the most spectacular countryside somewhere you could live is if you're on holiday for the rest of your life what if you could live here the imposing 20 room Chateau - Olly was built in 1839 and comes with two huge farm houses stables and barns it's a far cry from their previous homes in Aberdeen set in 25 acres of rolling countryside it's near the small town of Bush and then the wild Valley 80 miles south of Paris this is just absolutely beautiful isn't it you must be thrilled with this no I mean it's fantastic we we saw the place the first time and then walked in here and I mean that was it was just a lot of first sight absolutely she could have a look upstairs because this is just the most stunning staircase you could ever imagine and this is where most of the works gonna be this is it and the top floor is where pretty much yeah the first thing that hits me about the property is its sheer scale each floor is the size of two four bedroom houses the rooms are vast with amazing 15-foot high ceilings from the hundred and seventy year old oak staircase to the original marble fireplaces the Chateau is full of exquisite period features so you've got this fantastic building these beautiful grounds I want to set up a break the house is massive certainly great big rooms lovely bathrooms Jason and Phillip were sold their separate homes and Scotland their cars and used up all their savings to be able to afford the shuttles 600,000 pounds price tag if you're on the outside of it might seem like quite a big step and quite risky but it doesn't from the inside doesn't feel like that doesn't know so what made you do this but although we both had well-paying jobs and everything the oil industry I just thought of it as well I picture it as this you glorified battery hens you go to work 9:00 to the clock till 5:00 in the evening for instance and to me that's it's just no life I mean you make all that money and what you're gonna do with it I like to see us like growing our own stuff in the garden bottling through making Jam I mean it sounds a bit sad really doesn't it brilliant but behind the picture-perfect facade there's a mountain of work to do the ground floor is in good order as is all the period furniture but the first floor is a total rebuild at the moment there are four enormous bedrooms that each need an ensuite bathroom these all require new partition walls and plumbing electrics and high-end Suites and to complete the shuttle's new first floor layout Jason and Philip a plan to create a luxurious sitting room for their guests to unwind in in the shuttle's grounds they also plan to build a swimming pool that they hope will enable them to charge five-star prices so what's this space actually going to be in here well this space is going to be two luxury bathrooms one that end one this end for the the bedrooms that are next door and then the rest of this area will be a sitting area for the guests yeah be nice maybe maybe a bar in the corner it's always thinking the right way so tell me what work you've got to do in this space because you've got your work cut out I think oh yeah yeah one of the first jobs are going to be to not pass through the walls for each bathroom these walls are about having used up every last penny buying the shuttle the couple have borrowed sixty five thousand pounds to fund the renovation but in a house this size building materials and furnishings huge part of their budget with nothing allowed for labor costs Jason thinks he can do the build himself Phillip Burke will work in Aberdeen to make the money to cover their loan their living costs and to save for a potential winter without paying guests so in the short term you're completely abandoned at this guy I know it's gonna be really hard because we're not really been apart that much but it's only for a short period of time and we need to do it to make our life here work so we'll just have to bite the bullet and give it a go so you've set yourself a deadline of finishing this build in May what happens if you don't get it finished by that well we will get it fish by then we have to get it finished by then we need to be open there's no way we're not gonna do it no it's our neighbors we will do this massive this couples enthusiasm is infectious but it's the beginning of winter and Philippa is on her way back home to the UK Jason is gonna be left completely on his own working every waking hour on this matter shuttle and the shuttle ready set himself is relentless and grinding I just hope the his sake he hasn't bitten off more than he can chew [Music] [Music] Jason and Philippa met fell in love and bought a chateau and Frances lawar Valley all within the space of a few months their dream is to turn the property into an upmarket B&B and they've borrowed sixty five thousand pounds for the renovation but with nothing budgeted for labor Jason plans to do the build himself Philippa will work in Aberdeen to cover their expenses and save up for a potential winter without paying guests [Music] to date DIY is the limit of Jason's building ambitions now he wants to convert the shuttles entire first floor on his own he's got to build four giant bedrooms all with ensuite facilities along with the luxurious lounge area all in six months so they don't miss the lucrative summer season Jason's drawn up with grueling schedule for himself in the first eight weeks he has to create four difficult doorways put in joists install flooring stud walls plaster them installed the plumbing toilets and tiling all without any help with the amount of money we've got in our budget to do the work and to achieve everything we want to achieve from the budget then nobody leave a lot of work man that's what I think Jason may have managed big projects in the oil industry but this build is too much for one man particularly one like an any experienced ad estimate that would take five builders at least four months to get the job done after two weeks of preparation Jason begins the serious building work creating four new doorways for the ensuite bathrooms I don't think I'm gonna need to hire her and the equipment to help me but making holes in three-foot walls isn't easy after an entire week of hacking away Jason's not even finished warm doorway as the day's developed but if a realization hit me in the fact that the enormity of the task I've got because there's just me here just the simplest things I found quite difficult my project plan to put together is perhaps a little bit optimistic at first I'm now behind already and to make matters worse Jason's desperately missing Philip ah yeah I don't have much in the way of company here having caps found it quite difficult as in this great big house on my own I've sort of feel quite isolated bit lonely really a thousand miles away in Aberdeen Phillipa is putting on a brave face I try not to think about them too much when I'm at work so I've got to get on with things but I do miss him a lot and I think about him a lot when I mean you know all the time really having spent virtually every night together for the first nine months of their whirlwind romance they now faced months apart with Philippa having only the occasional weekend visit to the home and man of her dreams despite Jason's slow progress Philippa wants to stick to their deadline and budget I guess we should be a little concerned about the schedule because we might be falling behind but if we has help here then we have to have a different budget and so at this point in time I don't think he needs to be having any help here unless it's family and friends for now any concerns Philippa has or outweighed by the magic of the shuttle when I come back it reminds me why we're doing all this and while we're going through it because some time it still hasn't really sunk in that it's really ours I don't think I think I'm still sort of coming to terms with it because it's such a gorgeous place here and after just a brief weekend together the couple faced yet another painful separation all right almost [Music] because Philip is only here a very short time if she's here it's quite it it is quite difficult because takes a couple of days I think probably for me to settle back into doing what I'm doing here and it's probably similar Philip as well backing up things no you are a bit emotionally drained and that's something it's probably been tougher than even I had ever thought it would be if Jason were here it would taste a whole lot better than him after eight weeks of solitary hard graft Jason has started many jobs throughout the house but finished only one doorway and the strain is beginning to tell I guess like one of these end rooms is the size of the average flat and there's over 100 joists in here so let's quell off in less than four months Jason and Philippa aim to open their B&B to have any chance of meeting that deadline I think Jason needs help and fast so how many trips up the staircase do you think you make every day carrying gear Jason I think if anyone doing it can be open to any a dozens of times God you must be bloody fit bloody knackered I see you've knocked this hole in the wall yes son which is pretty amazing really it was more a lot more work I thought it was gonna be to be honest I sort of had down a few days you know I'll do that know few weeks to do the doorways literally a few weeks unbelievable now I'll just lick him a little pocket here because your your schedule this is yeah is your dates on yes and you should have done career doorway in the bathroom done that take actually actually installed drainage system you've done some of that not finished install central heating pipe work no no installed floor frame work in service rooms don't done that done excellent we can take one box we can take one gone to your sheds all out of the 16 things on that list there's probably one finished you started four or five six of them but they're nowhere near done yet yeah to be honest I think what you've done is amazing you know on your own by yourself and the middle of France can't speak the language got no help what you've done is fantastic but I can't see how you can finish this what I'm getting at is to have any chance of getting this project finished you need help I know Jason and Philippa think their love will conquer all but if they don't follow my advice I fear that B & B won't be ready and without the income from guests Philippa will be forced to continue working in Aberdeen to add to their worries Jason discovers the electrics in the house keeps shorting but instead of getting professional help he thinks he can rectify the problem the way that the the previous owners have wired the place was not correct according to regulations and standards so I've been having effectively rework every circuit in the house to work on each circuit Jason has to turn off the power every time and the switch is 400 yards away [Music] Jason and Philippa want to open the Chateau to guests in May less than three months away by now Jason should have built all the bathrooms but he hasn't even started the walls instead after four weeks he's still rewiring the house sake that's probably why it what's this darling wait it's hope for now and there it's gonna take me months and there's gonna be several kilometers of cables had to be put in to wire all this I don't know if I could be classed as being precision person but maybe a bit a more I guess almost as frustrating as rewiring kilometers of cabling hot Jason strips to purchase materials severely testing his limited French does your Monsieur what's on this earth are they on question or interrupt here and I'm telling ya wait okay can you good man yeah Villa verge a switch and at times like these Jason misses his french-speaking fiancee even more than usual for me when Philip finishes that the jigsaw it's like the last piece in any just everything was just clicks because we're together our dreams after a long and testing two months apart Philip is on her way back to France I mean my life is so totally changed I've changed my job I've changed where I live like everything has changed so it's really like a dream for people to go and do [Music] but the reality for Jason is he's way behind schedule anyone's Phillipa to realize he can't cope alone I was chatting with George you know he was saying reality that we're gonna need to get some help if we want to meet our deadlines you know I'm a bit concerned about it because from the standpoint of the budget we've not really budgeted to pay for help for me it would be nice at night I'd feel a bit because I you know I'm here all the time and I all I say is just a building site you know it'd be nice to see something that's finished you know might give me give you a bit more of a boost might paying for extra help for Jason will mean scaling down their plans or eating into their savings for a winter without guests next morning after checking the accounts Philibert see sends and calls an electrician for a call we are how do you say because we can't change that now because the previous owners made a real-ass of the electrics but Jason six weeks of wiring work leaves the electrician equally unimpressed and do you want to give us a quote for doing some of the work upstairs and stuff yes the electrician believes it will take two months and six and a half thousand pounds to fix the mess meaning Jason's wasted crucial time and money well it's very expensive for us really but I don't know I have sorts Jason see what we think what do you think this expensive isn't it it's expensive but I'm thinking of a time scale factor as well I know you know I think he'll do the job properly and at the end of the day sometimes to get what you pay for [Music] even though Jason's inexperience has jeopardized their ability to open their B&B on time and push them thousands of pounds over budget the couple's love for each other is unshakable amazing because I would say invariably we agree on but I don't know I don't know we're just both seemed too nice to compromise the Marigny is always managed to do we complement each other really well in a way I think that sort of part of this the way we sort of work together [Music] but working together is not enough to hit their mayor deadline just six weeks away Jason's build is way behind schedule and the couple face some big decisions I think in reality now we're looking at the end of July there's been an opening date so where does this new July deadline come from why July you thought we might have taken on a too big a challenge when we told you about what we're doing here at the Chateau but we may be rather stupidly have decided to get married as well in July I said we've got that to plan for as well that's fantastic news really really amazing you must be thrilled yeah I mean I think we decided that it would just be such a nice thing to do I mean it'd be I mean it's just a bit of a dream come true to get married in your own home somewhere like this you know finish the shelter so we can you know we get married and show people what we've done and our family and friends and it will be nice to have all our funding stand here to see the placing yeah for the wedding this is a wonderful fairytale romance now I don't mean to shatter Jason and Philip as dreams but the new B&B is now three months behind schedule that haven't budgeted for any help and they've now got the added pressure of organize on their wedding it's going to be a miracle of the shuttles all bone in time for their big day you [Music] in less than a year Jason and Philippa met fell in love and bought this shuttle in France's Loire Valley and here's to the rest of our days here for the last five months they've been converting the property into their dream home and an upmarket B&B now they're planning to Marie in the grounds and have just three months to finish the place before their wedding day to keep money coming in Philippa works in Aberdeen but with nothing budgeted for labor Jason is struggling allured with the build his progress has been slow and it's been costly they've missed their original opening deadline now they face spending thousands on an electrician to fix Jason's attempt at wiring this is not good but with money tighter than ever Phillipa has decided to quit her job just totally sick of it so it's really hard just I think it'd be better in a way to kind of come down here and get started on stuff here and then if I need to go back a later date maybe do that rather than carry on in a steam room but almost immediately Phillip us back in Aberdeen for a crucial appointment that's gorgeous on the way back to France Philippa stops off at her parents house we were very happy Philip has had a lot of boyfriends but this is the first time the first time that he's you know really really been in love I think and we're very happy for them not only does Philippa have her parents blessing they've also agreed to foot the bill for her wedding [Music] [Music] it's good to have you back in the evenings cuz it's a bit lonely here I know I could have imagined I know I'm getting all this wine done mm-hmm [Music] now back at the Chateau full time Philippa finally appreciates the scale of the task ahead we've got such a lot of work to do here because the rooms are so big it just takes ages to do any job that you know you think you can do in a day or whatever and it ends up taking you two or three days we've got this deadline of getting ready for the wedding so we really have to do what it takes to be ready what keeping us busy enough Danny there are some things you could do actually what that's whether you would want to do it for months Jason and Philippa have had a romantic dream of sharing their life in the Chateau but now they're both here in the thick of the build the couple are struggling to work together I am finding it a little bit hard settling in I think I I think I do feel a little bit like Jason's made a lot of decisions without my input that I would have wanted to have input on and it's finding things that I need to do because Jason's been kind of running everything not been here it's like prison the cell block a one thing Jason and Philip er agree on is the urgent need for an electrician to fix the faulty wiring job his bill is six and a half thousand pounds today I despite me telling Jason he needs help months ago the electrician is the first professional tradesman they've hired if they want to finish renovate in the Chateau in time for their wedding I've got to step in so Philip EU now getting an understanding of the enormity of of the task just how big a task is that it's just a massive task there's so much to do start to worry that you know when we're ever going to get it finished really wedding day yeah are you worried at the minute I constantly worry I don't worry so much just because I just think it's ours to do so little time but just keep pressing on so you have a look at what you've done so far and then take me on it I want to see the guest bedrooms and bathrooms Jason spent so long in the shuttles wiring he's made very little progress since my last visit so here pastoring you've got to the electric from scratch your pastor on the same feeling yeah sailing needs to be done new lights everywhere floor needs to be sorted out he all done suite bathroom problem but you can talk them through plasterboard on the walls baths toilets sink shower window needs painting new dollar bill friends that's not surprising I've no idea if they can do it I'm making a schedule to see if there's any chance the shuttle can be open for their big day the only way to hit the deadline is to hire laborers plasterers and Tyler's but all this labor will mean more expenditure that they haven't budgeted for sixteen and a half thousand pounds the only way Jason and Philippa can afford an extra 16 grand for labor is to scale down their plans they wanted a swimming pool but it will have to wait until the B&B is generating an income meeting their wedding deadline is far more important all these people and you work to these deadlines that we've said you could now that George's left I think I'm feeling a bit more positive about being able to achieve what when he's with you even then burr gonna be flat out flat out despite the extra spend Phillip has taken my advice and is busy trying to get help but to find contractors at the last minute in rural France is far from easy we've had to plasterers here to try and get a quote for doing all the plastering we've done upstairs and they basically can't start until November or the end of the year because they're so busy with other work and they say they don't know anybody else in the area who would be in any different situation not only does she need to find tradesman there's also their wedding to organize [Music] sorted out the invitations not really sorted out anything in nearby borscht Phillipa gets busy music we have nothing at the moment while his fiancee sorts out the wedding jason struck looking with the bills he's found three plasterers two of them brits to do the work the news is music to philip Beziers i just love having Jason around you know I like having someone that my problems you know it's fantastic having somebody that can do all those things after only two weeks the plasterers have made a startling difference the ceilings the walls with the system is fair means the plasterboard better go I going to do the tiling to the bathrooms has been sort of coming and going and he should be finished up for next week on you only be too much of you just be impossible despite all we've had and any problems we may have there's no way I would want say to go back to what I was doing what's up this is a dream come true it's been inside position but the rapid progress has meant going thousands over budget there's absolutely no money in the pot for a swimming pool and Jason and Philippa may even have to dip into the money reserve for a winter with no guests Margot in the property is now essential the B&B is their new livelihood so the quicker they attract guests the better it's just the the worry that we'll be able to make the business work in time what we've saved will run out and then you know I've got to get another job or the business has to be running and it's that sort of uncertainty that I find a little bit stressful despite all the progress Jason still stressing about getting the building work finished on time as scaring him out of work left to do that when you look at upstairs because it's just so much painting that needs doing upstairs my blood pressures gone up because I'm 24/7 at work but yeah saturated by it really is with cost spiraling Phillipa also face as a punishing schedule there's 31 windows in the house so to close reach will probably take a good day and a half to do maybe one set the curtains by the time you've messed around on the hem and hung them up and everything it's gonna take four to five days the race to finish the build means Phillip is now cutting it fine with her old wedding arrangements the priest I'll put wedding rings gonna find some clothes for Jason to wear gotta sort the drinks out for the wedding put to sort out seating plan the decorations in the marquee and if you little details that need to be sorted out as well [Music] there are just four weeks to the wedding to find out if my action plan has helped bring their dream I mean getting you know the plasters again the guys haven't had any nuts made the difference now are you gonna be ready to be open for business that's the big question if this building gonna start earning some money for you we haven't done enough work when I marketing why you're so behind on your marketing well we concentrate on during the work I guess one and everything else Minh there's only so many hours of the day that we can fit everything in I just have this image and I might be being a bit too miserable here you know the two of you sitting here and you're on all the way through winter beans on toast every play they know wardress yeah and your skate I mean hell it even if it does boil down Sabath it's alright because Philip was here just get on well manager yeah well managed so how's all the wedding plans going them well not good it's all a bit last minute but hopefully it will be there by the day it's been quite stressful because it's just trying to find all those people in France as difficulty we had to dry for two hours to find someone that was willing to conduct the wedding service we have to go meet them and then we still not got anyone to play any music in the church this is turning into you know quite a beautiful romantic event maybe a little but it's everything that we hoped it would be in and more really because we know we're both together now here we're planning our wedding which would be perfect everything is fallens places it's good what could go wrong in the place like this progress has admittedly been impressive but Jason and Philippa are now totally on their own with all the wedding arrangements still to make and the monumental task of decorating these enormous rooms I can't quite believe that they've got this far after eight months of slogging away at this build Jason and Philippa have just got four weeks until their deadline and they're gonna have to have a massive push tap any chance of getting the bed breakfast ready for their first guests their friends and family and find it to their wedding for the last nine months Jason and Philippa have been struggling to transform the shuttle in France's Loire Valley into a luxury B&B in just two days time a hundred and fifty guests will descend on the Chateau for their wedding Wow look at that that's fantastic thank you ready for the guests pretty much there now yeah different say this is absolutely brilliant I mean stunning curtains beautiful coloured walls the wallpapers great looks like a perfect place that you'd wanna stay in France I think so using their incredible eye for detail Philip er and Jason have totally transformed the first floor into an elegant living space that echoes the splendor of this early 19th century château [Applause] we think we've created the house that anybody that walks in will be you know they'll be shocked and amazed and impressed it's nice to see it all come together and look so good together they've not only created an upmarket B&B they now have their dream home yes it was a beautiful house in the first place but it didn't have any character did it didn't have anything to eat of the four giant guest bedrooms is individually designed using furniture that came with the house and some bought at local French antique markets but it's the transformation of this once derelict space into a luxurious ensuite bathroom that most impresses me especially given the agony Jason suffered on the way I mean this is Luxur see below just knocking through these walls there was no waste system there was no plumbing system there was no electrics there was no floors there was no ceilings there was no nothing I love about what you do is you've positioned the baths perfectly it's like when you lie in there you look out the window yeah you've got a fabulous view out there - come on I want to see more what we see next we'll take you through to the soul sound that sounds very French and very posh it is [Music] the couple's original plan was to complete the build with 65,000 pounds they come in on budget but only because they scaled down their plans and did without a swimming pool Jason and Philippa want to build a pool as soon as they can afford to but as they've done no marketing money is understandably tight the house is actually quite expensive to run it costs about three thousand pounds a month to run what with the tax is all that the bills the money that we need to repay our loan so it's a lot of money to hang out this month but you've had nothing coming in for some time so you're under even more pressure now I could go back and do some more work which is something that we might have to think about but the minute we're trying not to think about that but you know that is something that I could do we can just about cope until next year going through winter again long as we only you know Russian sort of a tin of beans a day [Music] for now Jason and Philippa will struggle financially but you just know that in the long run this labor of love really will pay dividends [Music] they've created a luxurious B&B they should be really proud of it's a sort of place guests will want to return to time and time again as described to me what the journey has been like that you've made over the last year you know you get these programs that go on a trip to Mecca or something it's kind of redundant doing something like that and we've reached the Holy Land or whatever run this is it it's amazing and it just all seems worth it doesn't it yeah when you look at what you've achieved here it's the stuff of dreams you could never have imagined this a year and a half ago coaching nargis is it's a fairy tale really I wake up each morning can't believe how lucky I am because I've got the best fiancee in the world and we're getting married in two days time we're living this fantastic house and our life just couldn't be more perfect [Music] I have to say I feel absolutely privileged to follow Jason and Phillip as romantic fairy tales story in just 18 months they met fell in love and set out on an epic journey to create a life that most people would spend years just dreaming about and now they're about to get married and what's wonderful is that this is just the beginning of the rest of their lives together [Music] in the name of the Father and of the son the hosters I pronounce that they are husband and wife [Music] next week Jess and Laura are building their very own glass front at beach house on the south coast Monica there's nothing like losing 30 grand to focus the mind is there [Music]

Channel: Banijay History

Views: 354,708

Keywords: history, facts, interesting, documentary, history documentary, documentary history, history channel, ancient, world history, full documentary, top documentaries, documentaire, documental, documentary film, free documentary, full length documentaries, documentaries, factual, documentary full, history shows, history channel shows

Id: vpAA46OKtPQ

Length: 45min 4sec (2704 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 13 2019