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Unable to afford a house in Kent, England, Paul Mappley and his wife Yip Ward (47 years old) spent €14,000 to buy an entire small village in France in April 2021. The village, named La Bousliere, in Normandy, includes six cottages, two sheds, and a livestock yard, plus a two-story workshop, a cider press, and a shared toaster.
However, there was no electricity or running water. Five houses in the village were overgrown with weeds. Clearing the way to the houses was so difficult that the lawnmower broke down from overuse. Nevertheless, these inconveniences didn't discourage the couple, because for them, the transition from a cramped mobile home to a large town was a wonderful experience.
The more Paul and Yip cleaned, the more overwhelmed they were by what they discovered. They found three more buildings and a well. They hoped to use the water there to flush the toilet. The couple also discovered an oak-framed shed with a working antique apple press and a stone-built bakery with a domed oven.
Paul was particularly impressed by the history of the village's old bakery. Before the French Revolution, it was a shared space for many families, so the baker had to be on duty day and night. The couple plans to transform the village into a tourist resort. They will live a camping lifestyle and revitalize village life.
"Sometimes life in the village is stressful for us, but we are grateful to be here," Yip said.
The couple had been renting and living in a friend's mobile home. But when their friend decided to sell it, they started to worry and needed to find a new place to live. That's when the opportunity to buy the village of La Busliere in France arose for them.
