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The town of Bellac sits at the confl uence of the Gartempe and Vincou rivers
Back to life W
hen Becky Johnson realised she had driven from her home in
a village in Haute-Vienne to the neighbouring town of Bellac, 35 times in one week, she knew something had to change. She, her husband Steve and
their three sons had lived in the village for 15 years, but now they were spending more and more time in Bellac. It was where Becky was employed as an English teacher; Steve’s work as a builder often took him there and their sons, Eli 17, Seth 14 and Jacques 12, were all at school in the small town. “We wanted to move to
Bellac for a while so we could have access to all the clubs, restaurants and bars, without having to drive everywhere. Because bus services around here are unimpressive to say the least,” says Becky. But fi nding the right home,
was not easy. They had looked on and off for a while, but nothing “right” had come up. Then Steve, who was doing
Rebecca and Steve Johnsonrevamped an old ruin – giving it and their family a new lease of life, they tell Nicola Venning
some restoration work on a house in the town, had a nosey at the rundown property next door to it. Excited, he immediately told Becky that she had to come and have a look. “You’re going to love it", he said. And she did.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS “The front door looks like the entrance to a medieval castle, and it was one of the fi rst things that drew me to the house.” However, Becky was less enthusiastic about the staircase, half of which had collapsed. The windows were smashed and there was a tree growing out of the attic. The owner had put on a
new roof about 30 years ago to prevent any further damage and Steve was convinced the house looked worse than it actually was. “He felt that once we had the stairs sorted, it wouldn’t be too bad, especially as the roof was in perfect nick. He said the collapsed staircase was our biggest bonus because 95% of potential buyers would
66 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: September/October 2023 It's hard to believe that the house had broken windows and a tree growing out of the attic
Rebecca and Steve worked hard to get everything shipshape for the new school year
© REBECCA AND STEVE JOHNSON
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