Juillé
The (beginning of the) Story
Why this village?
How This All Began
It's a long story - over 50 years, but here is a sense of it.
When I was fourteen, I began writing letters to a girl in a small village in SW France.
What started as a school pen-pal exchange became something much more enduring. Over the years, our friendship grew into a deep bond—not just between two people, but between families, cultures, and ways of life.
One year, my parent's European road-trip itinerary took us so close to her village, that we stopped in to say ''bonjour' and the friendship was cemented.
I was welcomed into her family with a generosity that shaped me. Their home became my second home. I returned again and again—through different seasons of life—always finding the same warmth, the same rhythms, the same quiet sense of belonging.
More than forty years ago we made a promise, as young women do, that one day we would live in the village together.
However, life took me elsewhere for a time. I was born in England, and later moved to Australia, where I built a life and family of my own. But France—and this village—remained a constant thread, something I returned to whenever I could.
Years later, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to fulfil on that early promise.
The farmhouse you see here is part of that story.
It has been created not as a holiday rental, but as a home—one that reflects the life I have experienced here over decades.
A place shaped by long lunches, family gatherings, shared meals, market mornings, and the quiet beauty of everyday routines.
When you stay at French & Cooper, you are not simply visiting France.
You are stepping into a place that has been lived in, loved, and shared across generations.
My hope is that you will feel not like a tourist, but like someone who belongs here—even if only for a little while.
Dreams do come true!
This is Christine, my French penpal and me at my 16th birthday party in the village, nearly 50 years ago!
Our friendship has endured, dreams have been created, fulfilled and recreated!
Ever year our friendship seems more precious and we continue to celebrate the luck we had to discover each other.
... us in 2010
Gary's story
My story of our French farmhouse goes back to 1983.
I'm in an arts theater in Cambridge, England. I’m a young doctor working to gain more medical experience at the prestigious hospitals in Cambridge. I am about to see a play with my friends when a face appears in the semi-darkness of the theatre, moving to take a seat near me. And that face was like I’d never seen before. That was Claire. Beautiful beyond my wildest dreams. It was love at first sight!
I consider myself the most fortunate man in the world because Claire accepted my marriage proposal a year later. . Ready for adventure on the other side of the world.
As it turned out, Claire had a very close relationship with a family in France. . She began writing as a pen-friend to Christine, who lived with their parents in a farmhouse in the tiny village of Juillé near Niort, in western France. This family became like a second family for Claire in her teens, and she would visit as often as possible during her years of nursing training at Cambridge. After we were married, we went to visit her family, not only in England, but to her very special "family" in France. I was accepted into that family, and after visiting several times, we decided that we would buy a house in the same village. The house became ours in 2008.
Since then, we have spent time at the house every year, gradually renovating: replacing faulty electric wiring, adding bathrooms, and making it a home for us when we visit during the summer months and a place worthy of hosting others. We've spent many hours trimming the garden, clearing dead branches from trees, fixing walls, installing new doors, installing double-glazed windows and adding furniture that represents the romance and comfort of rural France. The project continues as, we will now turn our attention to the older, original house and dairy, which will also be transformed into beautiful spaces.
This is a magical place in the heart of real France, away from the usual busy tourist destinations, where we can nurture and feed the souls of the people who visit.